Frailty trajectories in ICU survivors: A comparison between the clinical frailty scale and the Tilburg frailty Indicator and association with 1 year mortality.

Purpose: To test the agreement of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), their association with 3, 6 months and 1-year mortality and the trajectory of frailty in a mixed population of ICU survivors.

Material And Methods: This is a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal study on ICU survivors ≥18 years old with an ICU stay >72 h. For each patient, sociodemographic and clinical data were collected.

Validation of the cross-cultural adapted Italian version of the Oxford Elbow Score.

Background: The Oxford Elbow Score (OES) is an English-language questionnaire specifically designed to evaluate surgical elbow outcomes. This scoring system has been translated into other languages. Given the lack of an Italian version of the OES, the present study was designed to establish, culturally adapt, and validate the Italian version.

Determinants of the calibration of SAPS II and SAPS 3 mortality scores in intensive care: a European multicenter study.

Background: The aim of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II and SAPS 3 is to predict the mortality of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Previous studies have suggested that the calibration of these scores may vary across countries, centers, and/or characteristics of patients. In the present study, we aimed to assess determinants of the calibration of these scores.

Fatigue in intensive care survivors one year after discharge.

Background: Fatigue has not been investigated in long-term Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors. This study aimed to assess fatigue through a specific instrument, namely the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue (FACIT-F) scale, in ICU survivors one year after hospital discharge. A secondary aim was to compare the findings of FACIT-F with those of the Vitality domain (VT) of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).

Evaluation of a protocol for vancomycin administration in critically patients with and without kidney dysfunction.

Background: Administration of vancomycin in critically ill patients needs close regulation. While subtherapeutical vancomycin serum concentration (VSC) is associated with increased mortality, accumulation is responsible for nephrotoxicity. Our study aimed to estimate the efficacy of a vancomycin-dosing protocol in reaching appropriate serum concentration in patients with and without kidney dysfunction.

Hospital mortality of adults admitted to Intensive Care Units in hospitals with and without Intermediate Care Units: a multicentre European cohort study.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess whether adults admitted to hospitals with both Intensive Care Units (ICU) and Intermediate Care Units (IMCU) have lower in-hospital mortality than those admitted to ICUs without an IMCU.

Methods: An observational multinational cohort study performed on patients admitted to participating ICUs during a four-week period. IMCU was defined as any physically and administratively independent unit open 24 hours a day, seven days a week providing a level of care lower than an ICU but higher than a ward.

Our paper 20 years later: 1-year survival and 6-month quality of life after intensive care.

Introduction: In the early 1990s, the in-hospital mortality rate of intensive care unit (ICU) patients dropped, and interest in the quality of life (QOL) of ICU survivors increased. In 1996, we published a study to investigate 1-year survival after hospital discharge and 6-month QOL after intensive care. Now, we compare our previous results with those reported in the recent literature to appraise any changes, and new knowledge in the area.

Hospital staff education on severe sepsis/septic shock and hospital mortality: an original hypothesis.

Background: Signs of serious clinical events overlap with those of sepsis. We hypothesised that any education on severe sepsis/septic shock may affect the outcome of all hospital patients. We designed this study to assess the trend of the mortality rate of adults admitted to hospital for at least one night in relationship with a hospital staff educational program dedicated to severe sepsis/septic shock.

Health-related quality of life before planned admission to intensive care: memory over three and six months.

Background: The validity of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) recalled by ICU admitted patients have not been published. The aim of this study was to compare the baseline HRQOL measured before surgery and ICU admission with that recalled at 3 and 6 months in a population of patients with planned ICU admission after surgery.

Methods: This prospective study was performed in three Italian centres on patients who had undergone General, Orthopaedic or Urologic surgery.

Intensive care diaries reduce new onset post traumatic stress disorder following critical illness: a randomised, controlled trial.

Introduction: Patients recovering from critical illness have been shown to be at risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD). This study was to evaluate whether a prospectively collected diary of a patient's intensive care unit (ICU) stay when used during convalescence following critical illness will reduce the development of new onset PTSD.

Methods: Intensive care patients with an ICU stay of more than 72 hours were recruited to a randomised controlled trial examining the effect of a diary outlining the details of the patients ICU stay on the development of acute PTSD.

Admission and discharge of critically ill patients.

Purpose Of Review: The intensive care unit (ICU) provides continuous surveillance and specialized care to acutely ill patients. The decisions on patient admission and discharge should be based on common clinical criteria in order to guarantee equity.

Recent Findings: The survival benefit of early admission to intensive care has been demonstrated recently.

Intensive care reimbursement practices: results from the ICUFUND survey.

Objective: To assess patterns of intensive care reimbursement practices.

Methods: A detailed questionnaire about basic intensive care unit (ICU) characteristics and ICU reimbursement practices was created, and then members of the European Society of Intensive Care (ESICM) were asked by e-mail to participate in the survey and complete the web-based questionnaire.

Results: There were a total of 447 responses analyzed.

Errors in administration of parenteral drugs in intensive care units: multinational prospective study.

Objective: To assess on a multinational level the frequency, characteristics, contributing factors, and preventive measures of administration errors in parenteral medication in intensive care units.

Design: Observational, prospective, 24 hour cross sectional study with self reporting by staff.

Setting: 113 intensive care units in 27 countries.

Is it possible to measure and improve patient satisfaction with anesthesia?

Satisfaction cannot be considered as an objective indicator of the quality of anesthesia care, but it remains the best way to assess the outcome from the point of view of the patient. Patient satisfaction offers the opportunity for evaluating nontechnical aspects of medical care, in particular interpersonal relationships arising from specific episodes of care. Satisfaction is usually defined as the result of the comparison between expectations and perceived outcome.

Outcome prediction in critical care: the Simplified Acute Physiology Score models.

Purpose Of Review: Outcome prediction models measuring severity of illness of patients admitted to the intensive care unit should predict hospital mortality. This review describes the state-of-the-art of Simplified Acute Physiology Score models from the clinical and managerial perspectives. Methodological issues concerning the effects of differences between new samples and original databases in which the models were developed are considered.

Factors predictive of patient satisfaction with anesthesia.

Background: In this multicenter prospective study, we identified factors associated with satisfaction with anesthesia in patients staying in hospital at least 24 h after surgery.

Methods: The study was performed in six centers. Inpatients aged more than 18 yr, who underwent a wide range of common surgical procedures, were asked to answer a 10-item instrument to measure patient satisfaction with anesthesia (mean score range, 0-10) and some specific questions, and to rate their perceived health (score, 0-10).

Predictors of early recovery of health status after intensive care.

Objective: To identify factors predictive of good or poor recovery of health status and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) 90 days after admission to an intensive care unit (ICU).

Design And Setting: Prospective international multicentre study in 19 ICUs participating in the HRQOL substudy of the SAPS 3 project.

Intervention: The EuroQol questionnaire (EQ) was administered to discharged ICU patients 90 days after admission.

Patient safety in intensive care: results from the multinational Sentinel Events Evaluation (SEE) study.

Objective: To assess on a multinational level the prevalence and corresponding factors of selected unintended events that compromise patient safety (sentinel events) in intensive care units (ICUs).

Design: An observational, 24-h cross-sectional study of incidents in five representative categories.

Setting: 205 ICUs worldwide

Measurements: Events were reported by intensive care unit staff members with the use of a structured questionnaire.