Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39072231›Full record

ArticleCritical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine2024

Prevalence and long-term outcomes of patients with life-limiting illness admitted to intensive care units in Australia and New Zealand.

Kate Wagner, Neil Orford, Sharyn Milnes, Paul Secombe, Steve Philpot, David Pilcher

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Critical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Recognise, respond, reflect: A value-based framework for rapid response teams.Critical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Redefining success: Incorporating long-term survival outcomes into routine benchmarking.Critical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine · 2025
    Article
  4. The truism of 'life limiting illness' in ICU.Critical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Kate WagnerCabrini Hospital, Malvern, VIC, Australia.
Neil OrfordUniversity Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Sharyn MilnesUniversity Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Paul SecombeAlice Springs Hospital, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.
Steve PhilpotCabrini Hospital, Malvern, VIC, Australia.
David PilcherAustralian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre (ANZIC-RC), School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine (SPHPM), Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Determine the prevalence and outcomes of patients with life-limiting illness (LLI) admitted to Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Design setting participants: Retrospective registry-linked observational cohort study of all adults admitted to Australian and New Zealand ICUs from 1st January 2018 until 31st December 2020 (New Zealand) and 31st March 2022 (Australia), recorded in the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was 1-year mortality. Secondary outcomes included ICU and hospital mortality, ICU and hospital length of stay, and 4-year survival. Results: A total of 566,260 patients were included, of whom 129,613 (22.9%) had one or more LLI. Mortality at one year was 28.1% in those with LLI and 10.4% in those without LLI (p < 0.001). Mortality in intensive care (6.8% v 3.4%, p < 0.001), hospital (11.8% v 5.0%, p < 0.001), and at two (36.6% v 14.1%, p < 0.001), three (43.7% v 17.7%, p < 0.001) and four (55.6% v 24.5%, p < 0.001) years were all higher in the cohort of patients with LLI. Patients with LLI had a longer ICU (1.9 [0.9, 3.7] v 1.6 [0.9, 2.9] days, p < 0.001) and hospital length of stay (8.8 [49,16.0] v 7.2 [3.9, 12.9] days, p < 0.001), and were more commonly readmitted to ICU during the same hospitalisation than patients without LLI (5.2% v 3.7%, p < 0.001). After multivariate analysis the LLI with the strongest adverse effect on survival was frailty (HR 2.08, 95% CI 2.03 to 2.12, p < 0.001), followed by the presence of metastatic cancer (HR 1.97, 95% CI 1.92 to 2.02, p < 0.001), and chronic liver disease (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.65 to 1.71, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with LLI account for almost a quarter of ICU admissions in Australia and New Zealand, require prolonged ICU and hospital care, and have high mortality in subsequent years. This knowledge should be used to identify this vulnerable cohort of patients, and to ensure that treatment is aligned to each patient's values and realistic goals.

Indexed as

End-of-lifeIntensive careLife-limiting illnessLong-term outcomes

Identifiers

PMID39072231
PMCPMC11282342

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.