Background The focus of much Intensive Care research has been on short-term survival, which has demonstrated clear improvements over time. Less work has investigated long-term survival, and its correlates. This study describes long-term survival and identifies factors associated with time to death, in patients who initially survived an Intensive Care admission in Victoria, Australia. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients discharged alive from hospital following admission to all Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in the state of Victoria, Australia between July 2007 and June 2018. Using the Victorian Death Registry, we determined survival of patients beyond hospital discharge. Comparisons between age matched cohorts of the general population were made. Cox regression was employed to investigate factors associated with long-term survival. Results A total of 130,775 patients from 23 ICUs were included (median follow-up 3.6 years post-discharge). At 1-year post-discharge, survival was 90% compared to the age-matched cohort of 98%. All sub-groups had worse long-term survival than their age-matched general population cohort, apart from elderly patients admitted following cardiac surgery who had better or equal survival. Multiple demographic, socio-economic, diagnostic, acute and chronic illness factors were associated with long-term survival. Conclusions Australian patients admitted to ICU who survive to discharge have worse long-term survival than the general population, except for the elderly admitted to ICU following cardiac surgery. These findings may assist during goal-of-care discussions with patients during an ICU admission.

Introduction: Evidence about the immediate survival from in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) is well established, however, beyond discharge there is very little describing the long-term outcomes of these patients. Of the few existing studies, all have been conducted in metropolitan centres. Therefore, this study describes survival from IHCA in both the short and long-term in a large regional hospital cohort. Method: A retrospective cohort study was conducted including all adult patients who suffered an IHCA between 1 February 2000 and 31 December 2017 in a large regional (non-metropolitan) hospital in Victoria, Australia. Characteristics of the arrest and patient were sourced from a prospectively collected database that captures all of the arrests occurring in the hospital. Mortality data after discharge were sourced from the state death registry, censored on 31 January 2018. Results: A total of 629 patients were included in the study. Of these, 357 (57%) survived the event, and 213 (34%) survived to discharge. At one-year post-arrest 27% of the original cohort were still alive. The age of the patient, arrest rhythm, location and duration of resuscitation were all significantly associated with long-term survival. Conclusion: Both short and long-term survival following an IHCA in a regional hospital are similar to previously described rates in metropolitan hospitals. Further research is required on the post-discharge correlates of long-term survival.

A firm concept of time is essential for establishing causality in a clinical setting. Review of critical incidents and generation of study hypotheses require a robust understanding of the sequence of events but conducting such work can be problematic when timestamps are recorded by independent and unsynchronized clocks. Most clinical models implicitly assume that timestamps have been measured accurately and precisely, but this custom will need to be re-evaluated if our algorithms and models are to make meaningful use of higher frequency physiological data sources. In this narrative review we explore factors that can result in timestamps being erroneously recorded in a clinical setting, with particular focus on systems that may be present in a critical care unit. We discuss how clocks, medical devices, data storage systems, algorithmic effects, human factors, and other external systems may affect the accuracy and precision of recorded timestamps. The concept of temporal uncertainty is introduced, and a holistic approach to timing accuracy, precision, and uncertainty is proposed. This quantitative approach to modeling temporal uncertainty provides a basis to achieve enhanced model generalizability and improved analytical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the long term survival of medical emergency team (MET) patients at an Australian regional hospital and describe associated patient and MET call characteristics. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. Data linkage to the statewide death registry was performed to allow for long term survival analysis, including multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression and production of Kaplan–Meier survival curves. SETTING: A large Australian regional hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients who received a MET call from 1 July 2012 to 3 March 2020. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Survival to 30, 90 and 180 days; one year; and 5-years after index MET call. RESULTS: The study included 6499 eligible patients. The cohort median age was 71 years, and 52.4% of the patients were female. Surgical (39.6%) and medical (36.9%) patients comprised most of the cohort. Thirty-day survival was 86.5% one-year survival was 66.1%. Among patients aged < 75 years, factors independently associated with significantly higher long term mortality included age (hazard ratio [HR], 3.26 [95% CI, 2.63–4.06]; for patients aged 65–74 v 18–54 years), male sex (HR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.61–0.83]; for females) and pre-existing limitation of medical therapy (HR, 2.76; 95% CI, 2.28–3.35). Among patients aged ≥ 75 years, factors independently associated with significantly higher long term mortality included age (HR, 1.46 [95% CI, 1.29–1.65]; for patients aged ≥ 85 years), male sex (HR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.66–0.83]; for females), and altered MET criteria (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.03–1.71). CONCLUSIONS: Long term survival probabilities of MET call patients are affected by factors including age, sex, and limitation of medical therapy status. These data may be useful for clinicians conducting end-of-life discussions with patients.

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The prevalence and factors associated with advance care planning (ACP) documents for Australian public hospital inpatients were determined through cross‐sectional study of 123 Victorian hospitals between July 2016 and December 2018. Of the 611 786 included patients, 2.9% had an ACP document. Odds increased significantly in those comorbid, unpartnered, regional and >5 admissions, which supports future ACP conversations and document creation.

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