Sex and Mortality of Hospitalized Adults After Admission to an ICU
Sex and Mortality of Hospitalized Adults After Admission to an ICU
As shown in previous studies, in our study, women admitted to the ICU from inpatient units had a higher mortality rate than did men. However, the increased mortality did not appear to be associated with delays in timely transfer from the other units to the ICU or with severity markers before ICU admission or at the time of ICU admission. The increased mortality rate of women seemed to be more pronounced among patients transferred from medical units than among patients transferred from surgical units and among patients who were older than 50 years or who had lower APACHE II scores. Further studies will be required to determine if inherent physiological differences influence the higher mortality rates for women or if differences physicians' behavior and treatment between the sexes after ICU admission are responsible for the observed differences in mortality.
Conclusion
As shown in previous studies, in our study, women admitted to the ICU from inpatient units had a higher mortality rate than did men. However, the increased mortality did not appear to be associated with delays in timely transfer from the other units to the ICU or with severity markers before ICU admission or at the time of ICU admission. The increased mortality rate of women seemed to be more pronounced among patients transferred from medical units than among patients transferred from surgical units and among patients who were older than 50 years or who had lower APACHE II scores. Further studies will be required to determine if inherent physiological differences influence the higher mortality rates for women or if differences physicians' behavior and treatment between the sexes after ICU admission are responsible for the observed differences in mortality.
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