Physician staffing and patient outcome in Japanese ICUs

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate physician staffing and patient outcome in Japanese ICUs. ICU physician staffing, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, and patient outcome were prospectively collected from 178 ICUs in October 2007. Physicians were not present at 10:00 AM in 21% of the ICUs, and this percentage increased to as much as 36% during the nighttime. The peak of the distribution of APACHE II scores was 11 to 12. The measured mortality was lower than the predicted mortality based on the APACHE II score. ICU physician staffing varied significantly among the ICUs. To improve the quality of critical care in Japan, ongoing data collection is needed to determine the factors related to patient outcome.