Health Care Utilization in ARDS Survivors 2-3 Years After Discharge.

ARDS is a common condition, with a prevalence of 10% in ICU patients. Due to a decrease in (in-hospital) mortality of ARDS, interest in long-term outcomes of survivors of ARDS, such as health-related quality of life or return to work, has increased during the past decades. However, long-term health-care utilization of survivors of ARDS after discharge from the ICU has received comparatively little attention, although studies have demonstrated long-term physical, mental, and cognitive impairments, and reduced quality of life, and, thus, the need for treatment in survivors of ARDS. Brandstetter et al reported in-patient and out-patient health-care utilization of survivors of ARDS in Germany for the first 12 months after discharge from ICU by using data from a prospective patient cohort study. They concluded that the first year after ARDS is characterized by extensive health-care utilization, especially in-patient health care. For instance, 90% of the study sample had at least 1 additional hospital stay after discharge from the hospital. However, the question arises whether this pattern of elevated health-care utilization persists after the first critical 12 months or whether a decrease or even normalization is noticeable longitudinally. (See Ruhl et al for a 5-year longitudinal cohort study from the United States.) To extend findings on health-care utilization beyond the first 12 months, the present article reports the long-term health-care utilization of survivors of ARDS during the first 3 years after discharge from the ICU by using further follow-up data from the DACAPO study.