Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics

Characteristics
Total (n = 163)
Successful weaning (n = 78)
Failure to wean (n = 85)
P

Age
70.3 ± 15.1
68.6 ± 15.4
71.8 ± 14.8
0.2
Sex (male/female)
93/70
49/29
44/41
0.2
APACHE II score
20.0 ± 7.2
19.6 ± 7.1
21.3 ± 7.6
0.1
Comorbid conditions




     Hypertension
63 (38.7%)
34 (43.6%)
29 (34.1%)
0.3
     Diabetes mellitus
50 (30.7%)
27 (34.6%)
23 (27.1%)
0.3
     COPD
34 (20.9%)
12 (15.4%)
22 (25.9%)
0.1
     Malignancy
34 (20.9%)
14 (17.9%)
20 (23.5%)
0.4
     Congestive heart failure
32 (19.6%)
19 (24.4%)
13 (15.3%)
0.2
     Renal insufficiency
32 (19.6%)
15 (19.2%)
17 (20.0%)
1.0
     Stroke
25 (15.3%)
16 (20.5%)
9 (10.6%)
0.09
     Autoimmune disease
12 (7.4%)
5 (6.4%)
7 (8.2%)
0.8
     Cancer metastatic to lung
8 (4.9%)
1 (0.01%)
7 (4.5%)
0.07

Shown are demographic data for 163 critically ill patients who underwent tracheostomy, and differences between patients who weaned successfully and those who failed to wean. APACHE, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Hsu et al. Critical Care 2005 9:R46   doi:10.1186/cc3018