Six-month post-intensive care outcomes during high and low bed occupancy due to the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter prospective cohort study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 11; p. e0294631
• Main Authors: Castro-Avila, Ana, Merino-Osorio, Catalina, González-Seguel, Felipe, Camus-Molina, Agustín, Muñoz-Muñoz, Felipe, Leppe, Jaime
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 16.11.2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acute respiratory distress syndrome; Administration; Analysis; Anxiety; Cognitive ability; Cohort analysis; Comorbidity; COVID-19; Disability; Education; Evaluation; Higher education; Hospital patients; Hospitals; Impairment; Intensive care; Intensive care nursing; Mental depression; Mortality; Nosocomial infections; Pandemics; Patient outcomes; Patients; Post traumatic stress disorder; Public health; Quality of life; Sociodemographics; Ventilation; Chile; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294631

The COVID-19 pandemic can be seen as a natural experiment to test how bed occupancy affects post-intensive care unit (ICU) patient's functional outcomes. To compare by bed occupancy the frequency of mental, physical, and cognitive impairments in patients admitted to ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. We enrolled 252 participants, 103 (41%) during low and 149 (59%) during high bed occupancy. Patients treated during high occupancy were younger (P.sub.50 [P.sub.25 -P.sub.75 ]: 55 [44-63] vs 61 [51-71]; p<0.001), more likely to be admitted due to COVID-19 (126 [85%] vs 65 [63%]; p<0.001), and have higher education qualification (94 [63%] vs 48 [47%]; p = 0.03). No differences were found in the frequency of at least one mental, physical or cognitive impairment by bed occupancy at ICU discharge (low vs high: 93% vs 91%; p = 0.6), 3-month (74% vs 63%; p = 0.2) and 6-month (57% vs 57%; p = 0.9) follow-up. There were no differences in post-ICU outcomes between high and low bed occupancy. Most patients (>90%) had at least one mental, physical or cognitive impairment at ICU discharge, which remained high at 6-month follow-up (57%).