The researchers examined more than 400,000 cases from the U.K., with 233,308 men and 184,070 women who received care in an ICU.
After adjusting for possible confounders, the researchers found shorter people are significantly more likely to die in the ICU.
Hospital mortality decreased with increasing height; predicted mortality decreased from 24.1 to 17.1 percent for women and from 29.2 to 21 percent for men across the range of heights, the researchers said.
“Short stature may be a risk factor for mortality in critically ill patients,” the researchers concluded. “Further work is needed to determine which unmeasured patient characteristics and processes of care may contribute to the increased risk observed.”
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