Benefits of ICU admission in critically ill patients: Whether instrumental variable methods or propensity scores should be used
2011

Benefits of ICU Admission in Critically Ill Patients

Sample size: 8201 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Romain Pirracchio, Charles Sprung, Didier Payen, Sylvie Chevret

Primary Institution: Hôpital Saint Louis, APHP; Université Paris 7 Diderot

Hypothesis

Does ICU admission reduce hospital mortality in critically ill patients?

Conclusion

The study found no significant beneficial effect of ICU admission on hospital mortality.

Supporting Evidence

  • The study included 8,201 patients, with 6,752 admitted to the ICU.
  • Instrumental variable methods were used to assess the impact of ICU admission.
  • The analysis showed increased hospital mortality associated with ICU admission after adjusting for confounders.

Takeaway

The study looked at whether going to the ICU helps sick patients live longer, but it found that it might not make a difference.

Methodology

The study used a cohort of patients and compared ICU admission effects using instrumental variables, standard regression, and propensity score matched analyses.

Potential Biases

There is a risk of selection bias due to nonrandomized designs.

Limitations

The study faced limitations related to unmeasured confounding and the statistical power of the methods used.

Participant Demographics

The cohort included adult patients evaluated for ICU admission across seven European countries.

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.005

Confidence Interval

1.07-1.46

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1471-2288-11-132

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