Table 1.

Study design and primary endpoints/outcomes.

Study	Number of patients	Study design	Primary end points/outcomes
Chawla et al.	95	Retrospective cohort study in a 20-bed closed medical/surgical ICU in a tertiary care cancer center	31.6% of discharged patients were admitted within 30 days. The unplanned readmission rate was 23.2%
Lau et al. (retrospective)	642	Retrospective cohort study in a 26-bed closed medical-surgical-trauma ICU in a tertiary care center	DDH patients are young, have fewer comorbidities on admission, and few discharge diagnoses
Lam et al.a	137	Prospective cohort study in a tertiary care center encompassing a 30-bed closed medical-surgical-trauma ICU and a 25-bed medical surgical ICU	Patients and family members are satisfied with practice of DDH from ICU, although ICU physician satisfaction is more variable
Lau et al.b (prospective)	137	Prospective cohort study in a tertiary care center encompassing a 30-bed closed medical-surgical-trauma ICU and a 25-bed medical surgical ICU	DDH patients experienced no mortality. The unplanned readmission rate was 7.8%

ICU: intensive care unit.

^a,bBoth studies drew upon the same cohort of prospectively enrolled patients.