A Study About the Factors Concerned with Death of ICU patients by the APACHE III tool

Koo, Mi Jee; Kim, Myung Hee

Abstract

Using the APCHE III tool, this study was about the factors related to the death of ICU-patients. From 1999. 12. 1 to 2000. 9. 30, the 284 patients admitted to ICU at P university who were over 15 years of age were selected for the subjets. The data was analyzed through SPSS WIN program for frequency, percentile, x2-test, t-test and logistic regression. The results are summarized as follows: 1) Of the 284 patients, 88died. The mortality is 31.0 percent. The average APACHE III point was 48.62 +/- 32.32. The average point of non-survivors was higher than that of survivors. 2) There are the significant difference between APACHE III marks and mortality. The mortality rate were over 50 percent 60 points of the mark. When the marks were over 100 points, the mortality were over 90 percent. Below 40 points, the mortality was below 10 percent. Among the variables in the APACHE III, the most significant variables in explaining death were neurologic abnormalities, pulse, PaO2/ AaDO2, creatinine, sodium, glucose, chronic health state and age. According to the variables, the models explained the 42.43 percent of the variance in patient's death. In conclusion, the APACHE III tool can be used to predict the progress of ICU patients, and can also be used for the selection of patients for ICU admission/discharge criteria.