Table 1.
Country, hospital, ICU and patient characteristics across subgroups
| Uncontrolled cancer (n = 117) | Controlled cancer (n = 270) | Without cancer (n = 1254) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country characteristics | ||||
| Number of ICU beds/100.000 inhabitants | 13.8 (11.6–15.9) | 11.6 (6.4–15.9) | 11.6 (6.4–15.9) | 0.001 |
| Geographical region | < 0.001 | |||
| Central Europe | 15 (12.8%) | 40 (14.8%) | 147 (11.7%) | |
| Northern Europe | 7 (6.0%) | 27 (10.0%) | 257 (20.5%) | |
| Southern Europe | 7 (6.0%) | 32 (11.9%) | 98 (7.8%) | |
| Western Europe/USA | 88 (75.2%) | 171 (63.3%) | 752 (60.0%) | |
| Hospital characteristics | ||||
| Hospital type | 0.002 | |||
| Public | 20 (17.1%) | 47 (17.4%) | 318 (25.4%) | |
| Private | 10 (8.5%) | 7 (2.6%) | 77 (6.1%) | |
| University-affiliated | 28 (23.9%) | 43 (15.9%) | 178 (14.2%) | |
| University | 59 (50.4%) | 173 (64.1%) | 681 (54.3%) | |
| Total beds in hospital | < 0.001 | |||
| < 250 | 20 (17.1%) | 17 (6.3%) | 85 (6.8%) | |
| 250–499 | 33 (28.2%) | 58 (21.5%) | 271 (21.6%) | |
| 500–749 | 15 (12.8%) | 70 (25.9%) | 336 (26.8%) | |
| > 750 | 49 (41.9%) | 125 (46.3%) | 562 (44.8%) | |
| ICU characteristics | ||||
| Ethical climate | 0.13 | |||
| Good | 26 (22.2%) | 54 (20.0%) | 241 (19.2%) | |
| Average + | 48 (41.0%) | 97 (35.9%) | 552 (44.0%) | |
| Poor | 43 (36.8%) | 119 (44.1%) | 461 (36.8%) | |
| Number of beds per ICU | 12 (8–22) | 12.5 (10–25) | 14 (10–24) | 0.02 |
| Patient-to-nurse ratio | 2 (2–2) | 2 (1.4–3) | 2 (1.3–3) | 0.04 |
| Patient-to-junior physician ratio | 5 (3–7) | 4 (3–6) | 4 (3–6) | 0.09 |
| Patient-to-senior physician ratio | 7 (6–8) | 7 (5–8) | 7 (4–8) | 0.08 |
| Percentage of population > 65 year in ICUa | 18 (18–18) | 18 (18–18) | 18 (18–18) | < 0.001 |
| Patient characteristics | ||||
| Age | 66 (58–73) | 67 (57–75) | 63 (50–74) | 0.002 |
| Gender | 63 (53.8)% | 171 (63.3)% | 736 (58.7)% | 0.18 |
| ECOG performance status | < 0.001 | |||
| Grade 0 | 20 (17.1%) | 78 (28.9%) | 475 (37.9%) | |
| Grade 1 | 30 (25.6%) | 89 (33.0%) | 285 (22.7%) | |
| Grade 2 | 26 (22.2%) | 45 (16.7%) | 169 (13.5%) | |
| Grade 3 | 21 (17.9%) | 27 (10.0%) | 156 (12.4%) | |
| Grade 4 | 9 (7.7%) | 16 (5.9%) | 57 (4.5%) | |
| Unknown | 11 (9.4%) | 15 (5.6%) | 112 (8.9%) | |
| Nursing home resident | 3 (2.6%) | 6 (2.2%) | 69 (5.5%) | 0.03 |
| Moderate-to-severe comorbidities | < 0.001 | |||
| 0 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 790 (63.0%) | |
| 1 | 90 (76.9%) | 197 (73.0%) | 379 (30.2%) | |
| ≥ 2 | 27 (23.1%) | 73 (23.0%) | 85 (6.8%) | |
| Type comorbidity | ||||
| Heart failure (NYHA III or IV) | 5 (4.3%) | 21 (7.8%) | 166 (13.2%) | < 0.001 |
| COPD (Gold III or IV or equivalent) | 12 (10.3%) | 35 (13.0%) | 143 (11.4%) | 0.69 |
| Neurological (excluding dementia) | 7 (6.0%) | 7 (2.6%) | 89 (7.1%) | 0.02 |
| Liver cirrhosis (Child–Pugh B or C) | 0 (0.0%) | 10 (3.7%) | 72 (5.7%) | < 0.001 |
| Chronic renal failure requiring dialysis | 4 (3.4%) | 4 (1.5%) | 46 (3.7%) | 0.16 |
| Dementia (moderate or severe) | 1 (0.9%) | 6 (2.2%) | 32 (2.6%) | 0.67 |
| AIDS | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.4%) | 13 (1.0%) | < 0.001 |
| Abuse | ||||
| Alcohol | 1 (0.9%) | 14 (5.2%) | 166 (13.2%) | < 0.001 |
| Smoking | 10 (8.5%) | 39 (14.4%) | 241 (19.2%) | 0.005 |
| Main admission reason | ||||
| Respiratory failure | 36 (30.8%) | 65 (24.1%) | 289 (23.0%) | 0.17 |
| Sepsis/severe sepsis/septic shock | 34 (29.1%) | 67 (24.8%) | 222 (17.7%) | < 0.001 |
| Heart failure/cardiogenic shock | 11 (9.4%) | 24 (8.9%) | 244 (19.5%) | < 0.001 |
| Neurologic pathology/stroke/ICB | 8 (6.8%) | 17 (6.3%) | 157 (12.5%) | 0.002 |
| Gastro-intestinal pathology/liver failure | 10 (8.5%) | 26 (9.6%) | 133 (10.6%) | 0.72 |
| Metabolic/renal | 14 (12.0%) | 22 (8.1%) | 108 (8.6%) | 0.44 |
| Multiple trauma | 0 (0.0%) | 4 (1.5%) | 92 (7.3%) | < 0.001 |
| Head trauma | 1 (0.9%) | 2 (0.7%) | 55 (4.4%) | 0.003 |
| Surgery within 48 h | 38 (32.5%) | 122 (45.2%) | 100 (31.9%) | < 0.001 |
| Surgery | < 0.001 | |||
| No surgery | 79 (67.5%) | 141 (52.2%) | 850 (67.8%) | |
| Scheduled surgery | 19 (16.2%) | 77 (28.5%) | 111 (8.9%) | |
| Unscheduled surgery | 19 (16.2%) | 52 (19.3%) | 293 (23.4%) | |
| Do-not-resuscitate order before ICU admission | < 0.001 | |||
| Full code | 87 (74.4%) | 224 (90.4%) | 1132 (90.3%) | |
| Unknown | 8 (6.8%) | 10 (3.7%) | 57 (4.5%) | |
| No CPR | 14 (12.0%) | 13 (4.8%) | 34 (2.7%) | |
| Withholding therapy | 8 (6.8%) | 3 (1.1%) | 31 (2.5%) | |
| Severity of illness < 24 h after admission | ||||
| Invasive mechanical ventilation | 42 (35.9%) | 126 (46.7%) | 616 (49.1%) | 0.02 |
| Vasopressor need | 34 (29.1%) | 106 (39.3%) | 443 (35.3%) | 0.15 |
| Dialysis | 3 (2.6%) | 5 (1.9%) | 47 (3.7%) | 0.31 |
| Written withholding/withdrawing order < 24 h | 11 (9.4%) | 6 (2.2%) | 50 (4.0%) | 0.008 |
| Characteristics during ICU stay | ||||
| Non-missing patients | n = 93 | n = 253 | n = 1165 | 0.20 |
| Invasive mechanical ventilation | 46 (49.5%) | 143 (56.5%) | 684 (58.7%) | |
| Duration of invasive ventilation | 3 (1–7) | 2 (1–6) | 2 (1–6) | 0.36 |
| Vasopressor need | 42 (45.2%) | 130 (51.4%) | 544 (46.7%) | |
| Duration of vasopressors | 3 (1–5) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–4) | 0.67 |
| Dialysis | 5 (5.4%) | 21 (8.3%) | 97 (8.3%) | |
| Duration of dialysis | 3 (3–10) | 5 (3–8) | 3 (1–7) | 0.26 |
| Length of ICU stay | 3.6 (1.6–7.7) | 3.8 (1.9–8.0) | 3.2 (1.6–7.9) | |
A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant
a. Variable considered as categorical because of the limited number of unique values