Observational studyBMJ global health2025
Hospital burden of critical illness across global settings: a point prevalence and cohort study in Malawi, Sri Lanka and Sweden.
Observational study in BMJ global health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cross-Sectional Survey of Critical Care Provision in Ministry of Health Hospitals in Zambia.Nursing in critical care · 2026Article
- Value of AI in Critical Care Using Real-World Evidence on Intensive Care Unit Mortality Prediction: Cost-Utility Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Impact of Nurse-Performed Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) in Adult Intensive Care: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Physiotherapy approaches for pain control in patients who are critically ill.World journal of critical care medicine · 2026Review
- Predictors of adult ICU mortality: a retrospective study at two government hospitals in Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Top ten research priorities for Essential Emergency and Critical Care: A modified Delphi process.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- A Multidisciplinary ICU Clerkship Curriculum Incorporating Simulation and Competency-Based Education: Design, Implementation, and Early Outcomes.Advances in medical education and practice · 2026Article
- Lessons learned from the promotion of Essential Emergency and Critical Care in Tanzania - a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- The African Critical Illness Outcomes Study (ACIOS): a point prevalence study of critical illness in 22 nations in Africa.Lancet (London, England) · 2025Article
- Prevalence, aetiology, and hospital outcomes of paediatric acute critical illness in resource-constrained settings (Global PARITY): a multicentre, international, point prevalence and prospective cohort study.The Lancet. Global health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
27 authors.
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Abstract
introductionThe burden of critical illness may have been underestimated. Previous analyses have used data from intensive care units (ICUs) only, and there is a lack of evidence about where in hospitals critically ill patients receive care. This study aims to determine the burden of critical illness among adult inpatients across hospitals in different global settings.
methodsWe performed a prospective, observational, hospital-based, point prevalence and cohort study in countries of different socioeconomic levels: Malawi, Sri Lanka and Sweden. On specific days, all adult in-patients in the eight study hospitals were examined by the study team for the presence of critical illness and followed up for hospital mortality. Patients with at least one severely deranged vital sign were classified as critically ill. The primary outcomes were the presence of critical illness and 30-day hospital mortality. In addition, we determined where the critically ill patients were being cared for and the association between critical illness and 30-day hospital mortality.
resultsAmong 3652 hospitalised patients, we found a point prevalence of critical illness of 12.0% (95% CI 11.0 to 13.1), with a hospital mortality of 18.7% (95% CI 15.3 to 22.6). The crude OR of death of critically ill patients compared with non-critically ill patients was 7.5 (95% CI 5.4 to 10.2). Of the critically ill patients, 96.1% (95% CI 93.9 to 97.6) were cared for in the general wards outside ICUs.
conclusionsThe study has revealed a substantial burden of critical illness in hospitals from different global settings. One in eight hospital in-patients was critically ill, 19% of the critically ill died in hospital, and 96% of the critically ill patients were cared for outside of ICUs. Implementing the most feasible and low-cost critical care in general wards throughout hospitals would impact a large number of high-risk patients and has the potential to improve outcomes across all acute care specialties.
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