Epidemiological characteristics and causes of deaths in hospitalized patients under intensive care

ABSTRACT

Objective:

to describe the epidemiological and sociodemographic characteristics of patients hospitalized in an ICU.

Method:

an epidemiological, descriptive and retrospective study. Population: 695 patients admitted from January to December 2011. The data collected were statistically analyzed with both absolute and relative frequency distribution.

Results:

61.6% of the patients are male, aged 40 to 69 years, and most of them came from the surgery rooms. The most frequent reason for admission was diseases of the circulatory system (23.3%). At discharge from the ICU, 72.4% of the patients were sent to other units of the same institution, 31.1% to the intermediate care unit, and 20.4% died, of which 24.6% from diseases of the circulatory system. The afternoon shift had 45.8% of the admissions and 53.3% of the discharges.

Conclusion:

the description of the sociodemographic and epidemiological features guides the planning of nursing actions, providing a better quality service.

Key words:
Intensive Care Unit; Critical Care; Descriptive Epidemiology; Nursing; Morbidity; Mortality Indicators