TABLE 1.

Characteristics of Patients Who Received Tracheostomy Compared to Mechanically Ventilated Patients Who Did Not Receive Tracheostomy

Variable	Tracheostomy (n = 8,391)	Mechanical Ventilation Without Tracheostomy (n = 125,374)	p
Mean age (SD), yr	65.2 (16.0)	64.8 (17.3)	< 0.03
Female (%)	45.5	46.0	0.33
Race/ethnicity (%)			< 0.0001
White	48.4	53.0
Black	13.9	11.5
Hispanic	22.0	21.7
Asian	11.7	9.8
Other	3.9	4.0
Primary payer (%)			< 0.0001
Medicare	60.7	60.2
Medicaid	19.8	17.0
Private insurance	15.2	15.0
Self-pay	1.4	3.5
Other	2.8	4.3
Median Elixhauser comorbidity score (IQR)a	14.0 (8.0–20.0)	10.0 (4.0–16.0)	< 0.0001
Early do not resuscitate order (within 24 hr of admission) (%)	5.4	12.8	< 0.0001
Organ failures present at admission (%)
Shock	26.5	28.4	0.0002
Renal failure	31.6	32.4	0.13
Neurologic failure	26.7	24.2	< 0.0001
Hematologic failure	14.0	13.9	0.76
Hepatic failure	3.9	6.1	< 0.0001
Metabolic acidosis	15.6	18.7	< 0.0001
Common causes of respiratory failure (%)b
Pneumonia	79.4	54.0	< 0.0001
Severe sepsis	56.0	42.3	< 0.0001
Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	14.0	10.8	< 0.0001
Acute exacerbation of asthma	3.3	3.4	0.62
Acute exacerbation of heart failure	12.2	10.5	< 0.0001
Median time to tracheostomy (IQR) (d)	11.0 (7.0–16.0)	NA	NA
Early tracheostomy (%)c	27.9	NA	NA

IQR = interquartile range, NA = not applicable.

^aCalculated without arrhythmia comorbidity. Higher score indicates more chronically ill.

^bDiagnoses present during hospitalization. More than one diagnosis possible.

^cEarly tracheostomy defined as tracheostomies performed on day 7 of mechanical ventilation or before.