Abstract
Introduction : The aim of this study was to identify prognostic predictors in critically ill non-cancer patients without severe organ failure in a medical long-term care ward.
Method : We retrospectively studied 36 non-cancer patients who died in our ward between October 2011 and March 2014. All patients were bedridden with mild impairment of consciousness, were unable to consume food or water, but had no severe organ failure. We attempted to identify the factors that significantly affected their prognosis.
Result : Mean age was 85 years and the male to female ratio was 19 : 17. Diagnoses were dementia (21cases), senility (8 cases), Parkinson's disease (4cases) and multiple cerebral infarctions (3 cases). Median survival time after subcutaneous drip infusion was 31days. No significant prognostic factors were identified by correlation and multivariate regression. Prognosis for patients who had serum albumin levels under 3mg/dl, however, was worse than in patients with levels above 3mg/dl (27 days vs 61 days , p=0.001).
Conclusion : We were unable to identify clear prognostic predictors in this study. Serum albumin levels, however, may influence prognosis in critically ill non-cancer patients without severe organ failure.
