Admission source and mortality in a pediatric intensive care unit.

Background And Aims: Studies carried out in different countries have shown that source of patient admission in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) is associated to death. Patients admitted from wards show a greater ICU mortality. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between admission source and outcome in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

The impact of admission to a pediatric intensive care unit assessed by means of global and cognitive performance scales.

Objective: To assess the impact of admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil on children's cognitive and global performance.

Methods: An observational, longitudinal study of a sequential sample of critically ill children. The following indicators were used: the Pediatric Index of Mortality (PIM), for severity and risk of death at admission, the Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category (PCPC), for cognitive morbidity and the Pediatric Overall Performance Category (POPC), for global morbidity, at admission and at discharge.