Aged patients with respiratory dysfunction: epidemiological profile and mortality risk factors.

OBJECTIVES To describe the population of aged as compared to young patients under mechanical ventilation and to analyze the mortality risk factors of this group in an intensive care unit. METHODS This was a prospective observational trial in patients over 18 years of age, admitted in an intensive care unit and under mechanical ventilation, during one year. Patients were divided into two groups according to age: Group 1 - patients over 65 years old; and Group 2, 65 years old or younger. RESULTS eighty one mechanic ventilation patients were included, 62 aged and 18 younger, mean ages from aged was 76 years, while in the younger it was 56 years. As compared to the control, aged patients had longer mechanic ventilation time , higher intensive care unit and hospital mortality: 63.1% versus 26.3% and 74.2% versus 47.4% (P<0.05), respectively. In addition, the aged under mechanic ventilation had increased desintubation failures, difficult ventilatory weaning and deaths directly related to respiratory dysfunction. The mechanic ventilation time was an independent risk factor for death in the intensive care unit in aged patients (OR= 2.7, p=0.02). The area under the ROC curve of mechanic ventilation about intensive care unit death was 0.92 (95% CI 0.85-0.97, p (area 0.5)=0.0001), cutoff point of 4 days, sensitivity 89.4% and specificity 77.1%. CONCLUSIONS Mechanic ventilation patients over 65years of age have a worse prognosis than the younger, and the longer the mechanic ventilation time, the higher will be intensive care mortality.