Objective To evaluate the factors potentially associated with the decision of
admission to the intensive care unit in Brazil.Methods An electronic survey of Brazilian physicians working in intensive care
units. Fourteen variables that were potentially associated with the decision
of admission to the intensive care unit were rated as important (from 1 to
5) by the respondents and were later grouped as "patient-related,"
"scarcity-related" and "administrative-related" factors. The workplace and
physician characteristics were evaluated for correlation with the factor
ratings.Results During the study period, 125 physicians completed the survey. The scores on
patient-related factors were rated higher on their potential to affect
decisions than scarcity-related or administrative-related factors, with a
mean ± SD of 3.42 ± 0.7, 2.75 ± 0.7 and 2.87 ±
0.7, respectively (p < 0.001). The patient's underlying illness prognosis
was rated by 64.5% of the physicians as always or frequently affecting
decisions, followed by acute illness prognosis (57%), number of intensive
care unit beds available (56%) and patient's wishes (53%). After controlling
for confounders, receiving specific training on intensive care unit triage
was associated with higher ratings of the patient-related factors and
scarcity-related factors, while working in a public intensive care unit (as
opposed to a private intensive care unit) was associated with higher ratings
of the scarcity-related factors.Conclusions Patient-related factors were more frequently rated as potentially affecting
intensive care unit admission decisions than scarcity-related or
administrative-related factors. Physician and workplace characteristics were
associated with different factor ratings.