TABLE 1.
Characteristics of the Hospitalizations, Nursing Units, and Shifts
| Patients (N=146,349) | Values [n (%)] |
|---|---|
| Age [M (SD)] | 61.7 (17.3) |
| Sex | |
| Male | 81,476 (55.7) |
| Female | 64,873 (44.3) |
| Comorbidities (CCI) [M (SD)] | 2.03 (2.12) |
| Severity of illness on admission (LAPS) [M (SD)] | 25.9 (28.4) |
| Admission type | |
| Elective (nonurgent) | 33,373 (22.8) |
| Semiurgent | 26,300 (17.8) |
| Urgent | 86,676 (59.2) |
| Required any ICU stay | |
| Yes | 48,356 (33.0)* |
| No | 97,993 (67.0) |
| ICU shifts per hospitalization | |
| No. shifts spent in an ICU [M (SD)] | 4.5 (16.4) |
| Range | 0–589 |
| Admission year | |
| 2010 | 20,376 (13.9) |
| 2011 | 20,267 (13.8) |
| 2012 | 21,164 (14.5) |
| 2013 | 21,587 (14.8) |
| 2014 | 21,692 (14.8) |
| 2015 | 20,770 (14.2) |
| 2016–2017 | 20,493 (14.0) |
| Follow-up time in shifts [median (range)] | 14 (1–90) |
| Status on discharge | |
| Death | 4854 (3.3) |
| Nursing units (N=32) | |
| Type of nursing unit | |
| Surgical | 14 (43.7) |
| Medical | 11 (34.4) |
| ICU | 7 (21.9) |
| Shifts (N=3,478,603) | |
| Type of nursing unit | |
| Surgical | 1,720,176 (49.5) |
| Medical | 1,180,670 (33.9) |
| ICU | 577,757 (16.6) |
*When considering all hospitalizations at the participating UHC (ie, including labor and delivery, psychiatric, and palliative care unit patients along with medical, surgical, and ICU patients), only 15.7% of them required an ICU stay. This figure is slightly higher than but comparable to the Canadian average (ie, 11.0% for all Canadian hospitals) (CIHI, 2016).38 Excluding labor and delivery, psychiatric, and palliative care unit patients from the study cohort therefore artificially increased the proportion of patients requiring an ICU stay.
CCI indicates Charlson Comorbidity Index; ICU, intensive care unit; LAPS, Laboratory-based Acute Physiology Score.