Table 1

Case mix for admissions with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by subgroup


All (n = 3752)
I. Pneumonia (n = 775)
II. Right VF (n = 147)
III. Left VF (n = 142)

Age (years; median [IQR])
67.8 (60.5–73.6)
68.7 (61.4–74.0)
68.8 (61.7–74.0)
71.9 (67.2–75.1)
Sex (n [%] male)
1942 (51.8)
401 (51.7)
83 (56.5)
81 (57.0)





Past medical history (n [%])




     Respiratory impairment




          Severe respiratory disease
1236 (35.0)
232 (31.6)
57 (42.2)
33 (25.2)
          Home ventilation
70 (2.0)
6 (0.8)
6 (4.4)
2 (1.5)
     Steroid treatment
305 (8.6)
61 (8.3)
7 (5.2)
8 (6.1)
     Comorbidity:




          Liver disease
6 (0.2)
3 (0.4)
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)
          Cardiovascular disease
79 (2.2)
11 (1.5)
8 (5.9)
10 (7.6)
          Chronic renal failure
11 (0.3)
1 (0.1)
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)
          Immunosuppression
27 (0.4)
3 (0.1)
1 (0.7)
1 (0.8)
          Metastatic cancer
6 (0.5)
1 (0.4)
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)





     Hospital stay prior to unit admission (days; median [IQR])
1 (0–3)
1 (0–3)
1 (0–2)
0 (0–2)
     CPR prior to admission (n [%])a
308 (8.3)
45 (5.8)
20 (13.8)
12 (8.5)
     Intubation status (n [%])b




          Definitely intubated
2774 (73.9)
605 (78.1)
104 (13.8)
103 (72.5)
          Probably intubated
278 (7.4)
56 (7.2)
13 (8.8)
9 (6.3)
          Not intubated
700 (18.7)
114 (14.7)
30 (20.4)
30 (21.2)





Physiologyb




     Lowest pH (median [IQR])
7.26 (7.18–7.33)
7.26 (7.18–7.33)
7.25 (7.19–7.33)
7.24 (7.15–7.32)
     PaCO2 (kPa; median [IQR])c
8.7 (6.9–10.7)
8.6 (6.9–10.6)
9.1 (7.2–11.7)
7.6 (6.4–10.4)
     PaO2/FiO2 gradient (kPa; median [IQR])d
22.9 (17.2–29.6)
21.2 (15.3–27.8)
20.9 (17.2–26.2)
23.3 (15.9–29.3)
     Lowest serum albumin (g/l; median [IQR])
28 (23–33)
26 (21–31)
28 (25–32)
30 (25–34)
     APACHE II




          APS (mean [SD])
13.4 (5.6)
14.3 (5.5)
13.5 (5.1)
14.6 (6.2)
          APS (median [IQR])
12 (10–16)
13 (10–17)
13 (10–17)
14 (10–18)
          Score (mean [SD])
19.4 (6.4)
20.3 (6.3)
19.9 (5.8)
20.7 (6.8)
          Score (median [IQR])
19 (15–23)
19 (16–23)
19 (16–24)
20 (16–24)
     APACHE III




          APS (mean [SD])
52.9 (21.5)
55.9 (21.6)
53.4 (20.0)
56.8 (21.5)
          APS (median [IQR])
50 (39–64)
52 (42–68)
53 (41–66)
55 (42–68)
          Score (mean [SD])
65.9 (23.0)
69.3 (23.0)
66.6 (21.8)
71.6 (22.9)
          Score (median [IQR])
63 (50–78)
66 (54–83)
66 (52–80)
69.5 (55–84)
     Organ system failures (n [%])




          0
457 (12.2)
85 (11.0)
19 (12.9)
15 (10.6)
          1 Respiratory
1767 (45.2)
362 (45.0)
56 (37.4)
55 (33.8)
          1 Other
214 (4.4)
60 (9.3)
5 (4.1)
9 (8.5)
          2
1036 (27.6)
215 (27.7)
50 (34.0)
50 (35.2)
          3 or more
309 (8.2)
54 (7.0)
17 (11.6)
17 (12.0)

aDuring 24 hours before unit admission. bDuring first 24 hours following unit admission. cTaken from ABG with lowest pH. d Taken from ABG with lowest PaO2. ABG, arterial blood gas; APACHE, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; APS, Acute Physiology Score; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation; FiO2, fractional inspired oxygen; IQR, interquartile range; PaO2, arterial carbon dioxide tension; PaO2, arterial oxygen tension; SD, standard deviation; VF, ventricular failure.

Wildman et al. Critical Care 2005 9(Suppl 3):S38   doi:10.1186/cc3719