A large proportion of Japanese patients on mechanical ventilation (MV) were treated in non-ICU settings. Analysis of administrative data indicated preliminary that hospital mortality rates in these patients were higher in non-ICU settings than in ICUs. Prospective analyses comparing non-ICU and ICU patients on MV by severity scoring are needed. Over the study period, 17,775 patients on MV were treated only in non-ICU settings, whereas 20,516 patients were treated at least once in ICUs (46.4% vs. 53.6%). Average age was higher in non-ICU patients than in ICU patients (72.8 vs. 70.2, P < 0.001). Data on adult patients receiving MV for at least 3 days in ICUs or non-ICU settings from April 2010 through March 2012 were obtained from the Quality Indicator/Improvement Project, a voluntary data-administration project covering more than 400 acute-care hospitals in Japan.

Read More