The mortality rate is lower among children admitted to specialist pediatric intensive care units (ICUs) than among those admitted to mixed adult and pediatric units in non-tertiary hospitals. In the UK, however, few children receive intensive care in specialist pediatric units. We compared the ICU mortality rate in children from the area of the Trent Health Authority, UK, with the rate in children from Victoria, Australia, where pediatric intensive care is highly centralized. We studied all children under 16 years of age from Trent and Victoria who received intensive care between April 1, 1994, and March 31, 1995. Children younger than 1 month were excluded unless they had cardiac disorders. We developed a logistic regression model that used information gathered at the time of admission to ICU to adjust for risk of mortality.

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