Influence of age in the duration of the stay and mortality of patients who remain in an Intensive Care Unit for a prolonged time.

Backgrounds and objective: The true role of the age in the prognosis of patients admitted in the ICU is not known. This work analyzes the influence of age on the duration of the stay and mortality of patients who remain in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a long period of time. Patients and method: A retrospective, observational study was performed with patients hospitalized >= 14 days in the ICU. Three age groups were established: <50, 50-70 and >70 years. The influence of different factors on the relationship existing between stay and age was studied. In addition, stay and survival in the ICU, hospital and at one year were analyzed based on the groups. Results: A total of 707 patients were included. Significant differences in hospital stay (P=. 183) were not found among the three groups. The older group, which showed greater severity on, admission, was the group undergoing the most tracheostomies (74.7%) and extrarenal purification (HDF) (10.8%). When the influence of factors such as APACHE II, pre-ICU stay, origin, tracheostomy or hemodiafiltration (HDF) were analyzed, no relation was found between stay and age of patient. Survival decreased as age increased. Conclusions: No differences were found in stay based on age, although a difference was found in mortality. (C) 2013 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.