Table 2.
Characteristics of the study population (n = 41,541).
| Patients’ characteristics | No. (%) |
|---|---|
| Gendera | |
| Female | 18,490 (44.5) |
| Male | 22,765 (54.8) |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 2 (0–5) |
| Infant 1 (<12 mo.) | 13,811 (33.2) |
| Infant 2 (12–23 mo.) | 10,483 (25.2) |
| Preschool (2–5 year.) | 7,382 (17.8) |
| Grade schooler (6–12 year.) | 8,117 (19.5) |
| Adolescent (13–16 year.) | 1,748 (4.2) |
| Type of admission | |
| Medical | 36,803 (88.6) |
| Surgical | 4,738 (11.4) |
| Surgical group, type of admission | |
| Scheduled surgery | 2,840 (59.9) |
| Emergency surgery | 1,898 (40.1) |
| Source of PICU admission | |
| Emergency department | 29,526 (71.1) |
| Ward/floor | 3,681 (8.9) |
| Operating room | 3,667 (8.8) |
| Transfer from other hospital | 3,002 (7.2) |
| Other | 1,665 (4.0) |
| Medical group, diagnostic category | |
| Respiratory | 22,335 (53.8) |
| Neurologic | 3,194 (7.7) |
| Trauma (non-surgical) | 1,883 (4.5) |
| Sepsis | 1,331 (3.2) |
| Cancer | 1,111 (2.7) |
| Gastrointestinal | 977 (2.4) |
| Cardiovascular | 607 (1.5) |
| Other medical admissions | 10,103 (24.3) |
| Presence of CCC (Feudtner)b | |
| All types | 1,607 (3.9) |
| Neurologic and neuromuscular | 267 (0.6) |
| Cardiovascular | 147 (0.4) |
| Respiratory | 104 (0.3) |
| Renal and urologic | 113 (0.3) |
| Gastrointestinal | 301 (0.7) |
| Hematologic or Immunologic | 170 (0.4) |
| Metabolic | 12 (0.03) |
| Other congenital or Genetic defect | 58 (0.1) |
| Malignancy | 410 (1.0) |
| Premature and neonatal | 25 (0.06) |
| Technology dependence | 194 (0.5) |
| Transplantation | 0 (0.0) |
| Support on first hour of admission | |
| Non-invasive ventilation, n (%) | 4,378 (10.5) |
| Invasive mechanical ventilation, n (%) | 2,419 (5.8) |
| Vasopressors, n (%) | 1,130 (2.7) |
| PICU length of stay (d), median (IQR) | 3 (2–5) |
| Readmissions, n (%) | 1,917 (4.6) |
| Elective admissions, n (%) | 3,814 (9.2) |
| Deaths, n (%) | 763 (1.8) |
PICU, pediatric intensive care unit; CCC, complex chronic conditions.
aMissing, 286 (271 in private, and 15 in public PICUs).
baccording to Feudtner classification, version 2 (21).