Elderly patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in and out of intensive care units: a comparative, prospective study of 579 ventilations.

Introduction: Many mechanically ventilated elderly patients in Israel are treated outside of intensive care units (ICUs). The decision as to whether these patients should be treated in ICUs is reached without clear guidelines. We therefore conducted a study with the aim of identifying triage criteria and factors associated with in-hospital mortality in this population.

How do older ventilated patients fare? A survival/functional analysis of 641 ventilations.

Background: The outcome of mechanical ventilation in elderly patients should be evaluated by integrating survival rates with functional state over time after the ventilation episode.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the survival rate and functional state of elderly ventilated patients and to present an integrated analysis of both outcome measures.

Methods: This is a prospective observational, noninterventional study of 641 invasive medical ventilations of elderly (65+ years) patients in medical wards and intensive care units.