Researchers conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study of adult patients admitted to the ICUs of nine hospitals from Jan. 1, 2014 to Jan. 1, 2016, with a one-year follow-up. They included 6,732 patients in the study, of which 42 percent were female and 14 percent were discharged directly home.
Researchers found no significant differences between patients discharged directly home or home via the hospital ward with regard to readmission or emergency department visit within 30 days of discharge. Four percent of patients in both groups died within one year of hospital discharge.
As compared to patients discharged home via the hospital ward, patients discharged directly home were:
• Younger
• More likely to be admitted with a diagnosis of overdose, substance withdrawal, seizures or metabolic coma
• More likely to have a lower severity of acute illness on ICU admission
• Receive less than 48 hours of invasive mechanical ventilation
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