Patient destination after discharge from intensive care units: wards or intermediate care units?

This study characterizes patients hospitalized in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of hospitals that have intermediate units (IU) regarding their demographic and clinical data and identifies factors related to discharge from these units. This prospective longitudinal study involved 600 adult patients hospitalized in general ICUs in four hospitals in São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Demographic and clinical characteristics were similar to those found in other studies addressing patients hospitalized in ICUs. Factors associated with discharge from ICU to IU were: age > or = 60 years, diseases related to the nervous, circulatory or respiratory systems, originated from the IU, and Simplified Acute Physiologic Score II (SAPS II), Logistic Organ Dysfunction (LODS) and Nursing Activities Scores (NAS) at admission and discharge from the ICU. Age and risk of death at admission in the ICU, according to SAPS II, stood out as indicators of discharge to IUs in the Multiple Logistic Regression analysis.