Table 1. Patient and Hospital Characteristicsa.
| Characteristic | Overall Cohort (n = 6732) | Matched Cohort (n = 1632)b | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directly Home From ICU (n = 922) | Home via the Hospital Ward (n = 5810) | P Value | Directly Home From ICU (n = 816) | Home via the Hospital Ward (n = 816) | P Value | |
| Patient Characteristics on Admission to ICU | ||||||
| Female | 393 (43) | 2433 (42) | .67 | 353 (43) | 353 (43) | >.99 |
| Age, median (IQR), y | 47 (32-59) | 57 (43-68) | <.001 | 48 (33-61) | 49 (34-61) | .47 |
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| Diabetes | 143 (16) | 1392 (24) | <.001 | 134 (16) | 154 (19) | .19 |
| Chronic lung disease | 151 (16) | 1077 (19) | .11 | 143 (18) | 136 (17) | .65 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 23 (2) | 315 (5) | <.001 | 21 (3) | 29 (4) | .25 |
| Liver disease | 37 (4) | 462 (8) | <.001 | 34 (4) | 37 (5) | .72 |
| Cancer | 31 (3) | 946 (16) | <.001 | 31 (4) | 26 (3) | .50 |
| Chronic heart or peripheral vascular diseasec | 72 (8) | 1009 (17) | <.001 | 71 (9) | 77 (9) | .61 |
| Neurological diseased | 17 (2) | 280 (5) | <.001 | 16 (2) | 13 (2) | .57 |
| Any comorbidity | 360 (39) | 3774 (65) | <.001 | 337 (41) | 365 (45) | .16 |
| Charlson Score, median (IQR) | 0 (0-1) | 1 (0-3) | <.001 | 0 (0-1) | 0 (0-1) | .14 |
| Admission diagnosise | <.001 | .96 | ||||
| Overdose, withdrawal, seizures, or metabolic coma | 295 (32) | 594 (10) | 241 (30) | 239 (29) | ||
| Pneumonia | 104 (11) | 800 (14) | 101 (12) | 96 (12) | ||
| Respiratory other | 133 (15) | 550 (9) | 119 (15) | 109 (13) | ||
| Medical or neurological other | 107 (12) | 360 (6) | 88 (11) | 91 (11) | ||
| Trauma or orthopedic | 79 (9) | 667 (11) | 78 (10) | 78 (10) | ||
| Cardiovascular | 67 (7) | 644 (11) | 66 (8) | 65 (8) | ||
| Sepsis (nonpulmonary) | 52 (6) | 629 (11) | 52 (6) | 55 (7) | ||
| Gastrointestinal | 45 (5) | 869 (15) | 43 (5) | 47 (6) | ||
| Pregnancy or genitourinary | 21 (2) | 281 (5) | 20 (2) | 30 (4) | ||
| Cancer | 8 (1) | 383 (7) | 8 (1) | 6 (1) | ||
| Location before ICU admissionf | <.001 | .86 | ||||
| Emergency department | 607 (66) | 2328 (40) | 529 (65) | 541 (66) | ||
| Ward | 160 (17) | 1610 (28) | 151 (19) | 151 (19) | ||
| Operating or recovery room | 98 (11) | 1669 (29) | 90 (11) | 84 (10) | ||
| Other hospital | 55 (6) | 192 (3) | 46 (6) | 40 (5) | ||
| APACHE II score, median (IQR) | 15 (10-20) | 18 (13-24) | <.001 | 15 (10-21) | 15 (11-20) | .40 |
| SOFA score, median (IQR) | 5 (3-7) | 6 (4-9) | <.001 | 5 (3-7) | 5 (3-7) | .16 |
| Previous ICU admission during hospital stay | 12 (1) | 293 (5) | <.001 | 11 (1) | 11 (1) | >.99 |
| Interventions Received in ICU | ||||||
| Invasive mechanical ventilation | <.001 | .63 | ||||
| None | 408 (44) | 2096 (36) | 357 (44) | 360 (44) | ||
| Duration <48 h | 389 (42) | 1984 (34) | 336 (41) | 321 (39) | ||
| Duration ≥48 h | 125 (14) | 1730 (30) | 123 (15) | 135 (17) | ||
| Noninvasive mechanical ventilation | 113 (12) | 730 (13) | .79 | 106 (13) | 97 (12) | .50 |
| Vasoactive medications | 176 (19) | 2204 (38) | <.001 | 171 (21) | 177 (22) | .72 |
| Renal replacement therapy | 9 (1) | 200 (3) | <.001 | 9 (1) | 12 (1) | .51 |
| Hospital characteristics | ||||||
| Teaching hospital | 692 (75) | 5355 (92) | <.001 | 627 (77) | 640 (78) | .44 |
| ≥600 Hospital beds | 398 (43) | 4097 (71) | <.001 | 373 (46) | 378 (46) | .80 |
| ≥20 ICU beds | 326 (35) | 3659 (63) | <.001 | 306 (38) | 301 (37) | .80 |
| ≥1 Patient discharged directly home per wk | 564 (61) | 2987 (51) | <.001 | 480 (59) | 464 (57) | .42 |
| ICU occupancy ≥80%g | 559 (61) | 4895 (84) | <.001 | 517 (63) | 533 (65) | .41 |
| >24 h in ICU after ready for ICU dischargeh | 353 (38) | 1909 (33) | .001 | 328 (40) | 325 (40) | .88 |
| Patient characteristics on ICU discharge, median (IQR) | ||||||
| SOFA scorei | 2 (2-5) | 2 (2-5) | <.001 | 2 (2-5) | 2 (2-5) | .07 |
| ICU length of stay, d | 2.9 (1.6-5.7) | 3.4 (1.8-6.7) | <.001 | 3.1 (1.7-5.9) | 3.0 (1.7-5.1) | .42 |
| Patient characteristics on hospital discharge | ||||||
| Hospital length of stay, median (IQR), d | 3.1 (1.7-6.1) | 13.5 (7.7-25.3) | <.001 | 3.3 (1.8-6.5) | 9.2 (5.4-17.0) | <.001 |
| Public community supports on hospital dischargej | <.001 | <.001 | ||||
| Without community support services | 805 (87) | 4225 (73) | 719 (88) | 654 (80) | ||
| With community support services | 59 (6) | 1421 (24) | 52 (6) | 131 (16) | ||
| Left against medical advice | 58 (6) | 164 (3) | 45 (6) | 31 (4) | ||
Abbreviations: APACHE, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; ICU, intensive care unit; IQR, interquartile range; SOFA, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment.
Data presented as number (percentage) of patients unless otherwise indicated.
Propensity score 1:1 nearest-neighbor matching without replacement using the logit of the propensity score and specified caliper width equal to 0.2 of the standard deviation of the logit of the propensity score using age, sex, each listed comorbidity, admission reason, location before ICU admission, APACHE II score, admission SOFA score, previous ICU admission during hospital admission, invasive ventilation (no invasive ventilation, duration <48 h, or duration ≥48 h), noninvasive ventilation (yes or no), vasoactive medications (yes or no), renal replacement therapy (yes or no), discharge SOFA score, hospital, ICU occupancy ≥80%, transfer delay >24 h.
Congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, or peripheral vascular disease.
Cerebrovascular disease, hemiplegia or paraplegia, or dementia.
Data missing for 44 patients.
Data missing for 13 patients.
Percentage of ICU beds occupied by patients at time of patient discharge from ICU.
Defined as time from when patient was determined to be ready for ICU discharge to when patient left the ICU. Data were missing for 365 patients, and these patients were assumed to have no delay.
SOFA score calculated using data from the patient’s last day in the ICU. Mean (SD) SOFA scores for the overall cohort were 3.2 (1.8) for those discharged directly home and 3.4 (1.8) for those discharged from a hospital ward.
Defined as personal or health care services for patients living in a private residential setting that are covered by the health insurance system (eg, home care nurse visits).