Characteristics and Outcome of Patients Admitted in Medical Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Hospital – A Retrospective Study

Introduction: Intensive care unit (ICU) is an important entity for the treatment and management of critically ill patients which needs adequate equipment and human resources as well as hard work, patience and proper counseling to the patient and family members.3 The mortality and morbidity among ICU admitted patients is very high all over the world and number increases in developing countries. Thus, this study aims to describe the characteristics and outcome of patients admitted in the medical ICU of Birendra Hospital. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done among patients admitted in the Medical ICU of Birendra hospital over the period of twelve months (18th Oct 2021 to 16 Oct 2022) were included. All needed information was retrieved from the ICU record book, Admission Discharge Register, Nurses records. Results were analyzed by using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, median, interquartile range) and inferential statistics (Chi Square test) in SPSS version 20. Results: Among 928 patients, 51.6% were male and mean age was 63.5 ±17yrs. Almost all (94%) were dependents of soldiers. More than 50% of patients admitted in ICU were directly from the emergency unit. Highest percentage of patients admitted with respiratory problems (38.1%), 26.8% patients was intubated. More than three fifth (63.6%) patients improved and transferred out from ICU to High dependency unit (HDU) and other wards. The mean duration of ICU stay of patients was 4.3 days. Only 9.2% patients were on Do not resuscitate (DNR) status. Conclusions: The most common cases admitted in medical ICU were respiratory problems, majority were male and elderly (61-80 yrs). Recovery rate was higher than mortality whereas leave against medical advice (LAMA) was very few. Most of the patients were admitted for 1-5 days in ICU. Development and implementation of ICU admission protocol, training for staff, strict adherence to ICU protocol and human resources from different disciplines is necessary to improve critical care service and outcome in ICU.