Level of acuity, severity and intensity of care of adults and older adults admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: To characterize the level of acuity, severity and intensity of care of adults and older adults admitted to Intensive Care Units and to identify the predictors of severity with their respective predictive capacity according to the age group.

Method: A retrospective cohort based on the analysis of medical records of individuals admitted to eight adult intensive care units in the city of São Paulo. The clinical characteristics at admission in relation to severity profile and intensity of care were analyzed through association and correlation tests.