Temporal Clustering of Critical Illness Events on Medical Wards.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Recognizing and preventing patient deterioration is important for hospital safety.

Objective

To investigate whether critical illness events (in-hospital death or intensive care unit [ICU] transfer) are associated with greater risk of subsequent critical illness events for other patients on the same medical ward.

Design, setting, and participants

Retrospective cohort study in 5 hospitals in Toronto, Canada, including 118 529 hospitalizations. Patients were admitted to general internal medicine wards between April 1, 2010, and October 31, 2017. Data were analyzed between January 1, 2020, and April 10, 2023.

Exposures

Critical illness events (in-hospital death or ICU transfer).

Main outcomes and measures

The primary outcome was the composite of i

SUBMITTER: Doshi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10334292 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature