Table 1.
Study cohort characteristics
| Patient demographics | |
| Age (years), median (Q1,Q3) | 70 (60, 78) |
| Gender (male) | 492 (56) |
| CPC 1–2 before the current admission | 877 (99) |
| Performance in daily living; lives home independently | 710 (80) |
| Charlson comorbidity index, median (Q1,Q3) | 2.0 (0, 3) |
| COPD | 73 (8.2) |
| Diabetes | 244 (28) |
| Malignancy | 237 (27) |
| Dementia | 44 (5.0) |
| PAD | 74 (8.4) |
| Coronary artery disease | 132 (15) |
| Hospital admission characteristics | |
| Elective hospital admission | 258 (29) |
| Days in hospital before the RRT activation median (Q1, Q3) | 2 (1, 5) |
| Surgical diagnosis for admission | 519 (59) |
| Preceding ICU admission during hospitalization | 91 (10) |
| Surgery conducted 0─24 h before | 93 (11) |
| RRT review characteristics | |
| On-call time RRT activation | 233 (26) |
| Reason for RRT activation | |
| Respiratory | 343 (39) |
| Circulatory | 226 (26) |
| Decreased mental status | 225 (25) |
| Nurse worried | 39 (4.4) |
| Other | 53 (6.0) |
| RRT interventions | |
| Supplementary oxygen started or flow changed | 89 (10) |
| HFNOT/CPAP/BiPAP started | 103 (12) |
| Endotracheal intubation | 17 (1.9) |
| Intravenous fluids | 191 (22) |
| Blood products | 56 (6.3) |
| Medications | 278 (31) |
| Continuous vital signs’ monitoring started on ward | 110 (12) |
| Transfer to ICU | 171 (19) |
| ICU mortality (% of the transferred patients) | 17 (10) |
| Transfer to PACU/OR | 46 (5.2) |
| Transfer to emergency department | 53 (6.0) |
| New limitations of medical treatment issued | 66 (7.4) |
| Hospital outcome | |
| Died | 134 (15) |
| Discharged alive | 752 (85) |
| CPC at discharge 1–2 | 697 (79) |
| CPC at discharge 3–4 | 55 (6.2) |
| Limitations of medical treatment at discharge | 111 (13) |
| Discharged directly to home | 252 (28) |
Data are presented as numbers (percentages) if not otherwise indicated. CPC Cerebral performance category, COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; malignancy, malignant solid tumor, lymphoma or leukemia according to the ICD-10, International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (C00-C97, ICD-10), PAD Peripheral arterial disease, RRT Rapid response team, ICU Intensive care unit, HFNOT High-flow nasal oxygen therapy, CPAP Continuous positive airway pressure, BiPAP Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure, PACU Post anaesthetic care unit, OR Operating room