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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jun 9.
Published in final edited form as: Minerva Anestesiol. 2014 Jun 13;81(6):650–661.

Table 3.

Characteristics associated with disability and/or death in older ICU survivors

Characteristic or Exposure Measurement Comment Supporting Studies
Age Independent predictor in more recent larger cohort studies, but not in older smaller cohort studies 1014
Pre-Existing Disability Admission from skilled-care facility, Katz ADLs, Barthel Index Pre-hospitalization estimates of disability using more detailed surveys than the Katz ADLs need validation (e.g. Barthel Index). 4, 19, 20, 28, 58
Pre-Existing Frailty CFS Subjective measure that quickly identifies at risk patients 67
Severe Sepsis Persistent physical disability and neurocognitive impairment for up to 8 years after treatment of the initial infection 36
Medical or Unplanned Surgical ICU Admission 13
Use of Mechanical Ventilation 5, 16
Chronic Critical Illness PMV via tracheostomy ≥ 10 days Highest reported mortality among older ICU survivors 16, 24
Burden of Comorbidity High Charlson Comorbidity Score 14, 19
DNR Preference DNR order at hospital discharge DNR decision reflects a patient preference, and may also reflect a severity of chronic illness and frailty not captured with other measurements 19
Disability at Hospital Discharge Discharge to skilled-care facility, Katz ADLs, Barthel Index Less disability is predictive of full-functional recovery among 1-year older ICU survivors (23) 5, 16, 19, 23, 28
Frailty at Hospital Discharge CFS or Fried’s Index Fried’s frailty measurements identify deficits that may be targets for post-ICU interventions 19, 68

ADL: Activities of Daily Living; CFS: Clinical Frailty Scale; PMV: Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation; DNR: Do-Not-Resuscitate