ReviewAmerican journal of respiratory and critical care medicine2014
The role of stepdown beds in hospital care.
Review in American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of Rounding Checklists on the Outcomes of Patients Admitted to ICUs: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Critical care explorations · 2024Pooled it
- Disposition to pediatric intensive care unit post supraglottoplasty repair: a systematic review.Journal of otolaryngology - head & neck surgery = Le Journal d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie cervico-faciale · 2023Pooled it
- The Importance of the First 24 Postoperative Hours: Does Current Evidence Support Short-Stay High-Acuity Care After Gynecologic Oncology and Complex Abdominal Surgery?Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Patterns of medical intermediate care unit use in critically ill very old patients in France.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns of Nosocomial Bacteria across Different Units at King Faisal Complex Hospital, Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Saudi medical journal · 2026Article
- Understanding nursing handoff errors in clinical practice: trends and contributing factors based on a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Outcomes of patients with hypertensive emergency managed in intensive vs intermediate care settings: a multihospital retrospective cohort study.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2026Observational
- Trends, Predictors, and Outcomes of Monitored Acute Care Unit Admissions in Older Adults: 10-Year Retrospective Analysis.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Article
- Challenges and strategies in the care of older adults across the continuum of intensive and post-intensive care medicine.Intensive care medicine · 2026Review
- Intermediate Care Units in Europe and Italy: A Review of Structure, Outcomes, and Policy Implications for Internal Medicine.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Investigation of the psychometric properties of the German System Thinking Scale in an interprofessional learning setting using the game "Friday Night at the Emergency RoomBMC medical education · 2025Article
- Outcomes and cost-effectiveness of intermediate care units for patients discharged from the intensive care unit: a nationwide retrospective observational study.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Observational
- Data-driven modelling of IRCU patient flow during the COVID-19 pandemic.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025Article
- Predictive Scoring Methods for Postoperative Level of Care Needs in the Geriatric Hip Fracture Patient Population.Geriatric orthopaedic surgery & rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Psychological consultation apps in Saudi Arabia: A study for experts' evaluation and users' points of view.PloS one · 2025Article
- Machine Learning Identification of Modifiable Predictors of Patient Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.JACC. Advances · 2024Article
- The Role of Intermediate Care in Supporting Critically Ill Patients and Critical Care Infrastructure.Critical care clinics · 2024Review
- Lung Protective Ventilation Adherence and Outcomes for Patients With COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Treated in an Intermediate Care Unit Repurposed to ICU Level of Care.Critical care explorations · 2024Observational
- Hospital and regional variations in intensive care unit admission for patients with invasive mechanical ventilation.Journal of intensive care · 2024Article
- The trajectory of very old critically ill patients.Intensive care medicine · 2024Review
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Stepdown beds provide an intermediate level of care for patients with requirements somewhere between that of the general ward and the intensive care unit. Models of care include incorporation of stepdown beds into intensive care units, stand-alone units, or incorporation of beds into standard wards. Stepdown beds may be used to provide a higher level of care for patients deteriorating on a ward ("step-up"), a lower level of care for patients transitioning out of intensive care ("stepdown") or a lateral transfer of care from a recovery room for postoperative patients. These units are one possible strategy to improve critical care cost-effectiveness and patient flow without compromising quality, but these potential benefits remain primarily theoretical as few patient-level studies provide concrete evidence. This narrative review provides a general overview of the theory of stepdown beds in the care of hospitalized patients and a summary of what is known about their impact on patient flow and outcomes and highlights areas for future research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.