Baseline characteristics of patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), by frailty status
| Characteristic | Group; no. (%)of patients* | p value† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frail n = 138 | Not frail n = 283 | ||
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 69 ± 10 | 66 ± 10 | 0.007 |
| Sex, female | 66 (47.8) | 97 (34.3) | 0.007 |
| Race, white | 114 (82.6) | 240 (84.8) | 0.6 |
| Marital status | |||
| Married or common law | 87 (63.0) | 189 (66.8) | 0.45 |
| Never married | 4 (2.9) | 23 (8.1) | 0.03 |
| Widowed | 25 (18.1) | 28 (9.9) | 0.02 |
| Less than high school education | 39 (28.3) | 54 (19.1) | 0.03 |
| Residence | < 0.001 | ||
| Living at home independently | 58 (42.0) | 244 (86.2) | |
| Living at home with help | 64 (46.4) | 35 (12.4) | |
| Other‡ | 9 (6.5) | 3 (1.2) | |
| Able to perform activity independently§ | |||
| Taking a bath | 79 (57.2) | 274 (96.8) | < 0.001 |
| Walking | 77 (55.8) | 259 (91.5) | < 0.001 |
| Taking medications | 90 (65.2) | 270 (95.4) | < 0.001 |
| Managing own “nances | 102 (73.9) | 273 (96.5) | < 0.001 |
| Elixhauser comorbidity score, mean ± SD | 10 ± 9 | 7 ± 7 | < 0.001 |
| No. of prescription medications, mean ± SD | 8.9 ± 5 | 5.5 ± 4 | < 0.001 |
| Prior hospital admission¶ | 77 (55.8) | 99 (35.0) | < 0.001 |
| Prior ICU admission¶ | 37 (26.8) | 63 (22.3) | 0.3 |
| Source of transfer to ICU | 0.5 | ||
| Ward | 72 (52.2) | 167 (59.0) | |
| Emergency department | 40 (29.0) | 72 (25.4) | |
| Another hospital | 24 (17.4) | 39 (13.8) | |
| Other | 2 (1.4) | 5 (1.8) | |
| Postoperative ICU admission** | 34 (24.6) | 108 (38.2) | 0.006 |
| Cardiac arrest†† | 10 (7.2) | 21 (7.4) | 0.9 |
| Rapid response team†† | 36 (26.1) | 74 (26.1) | 0.9 |
| APACHE II score,†† mean ± SD | 21 ± 7 | 19 ± 7 | < 0.001 |
| SOFA score,†† mean ± SD | 8 ± 4 | 7 ± 4 | 0.1 |
| Limitation of medical therapy‡‡ | 47 (34.1) | 34 (12.0) | < 0.001 |
Note: APACHE = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation, CSHA = Canadian Study of Health and Ageing, SD = standard deviation, SOFA = Sequential Organ Failure Assessment.
↵* Unless stated otherwise.
↵† t test for comparisons of continuous data and χ2 test for comparisons of categorical data.
↵‡ Continuing care facility, subacute care facility or other.
↵§ Score of 0 on the CSHA Function Scale.
↵¶ In the year before enrolment.
↵** Surgery within 48 hours before ICU admission.
↵†† At time of ICU admission.
↵‡‡ Limitation in the provision of ICU-specific life-sustaining therapy (e.g., cardiopulmonary resuscitation, advanced cardiac life support, mechanical ventilation, use of vasoactives, renal replacement therapy) documented in the medical record.