The population is aging, and recent epidemiologic work reveals that an increasing number of older adults are presenting to the ICU with preexisting geriatric syndromes. In this update, we discuss ...recent literature pertaining to the long-term recovery of older ICU patients and highlight gaps in current knowledge.
A recent longitudinal study demonstrated that the incidence of frailty, disability, and multimorbidity among older ICU patients is rising; these geriatric syndromes have all previously been shown to impact long-term recovery. Recent studies have demonstrated the impact of social factors in long-term outcomes after critical illness; for example, social isolation was recently shown to be associated with disability and mortality among older adults in the year after critical illness. Socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with higher rates of dementia and disability following critical illness impacting recovery, and further studies are necessary to better understand factors influencing this disparity. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted older adults, resulting in worse outcomes and increased rates of functional decline and social isolation. In considering how to best facilitate recovery for older ICU survivors, transitional care programs may address the unique needs of older adults and help them adapt to new disability if recovery has not been achieved.
Recent work demonstrates increasing trends of geriatric syndromes in the ICU, all of which are known to confer increased vulnerability among critically ill older adults and decrease the likelihood of post-ICU recovery. Risk factors are now known to extend beyond geriatric syndromes and include social risk factors and structural inequity. Strategies to improve post-ICU recovery must be viewed with a lens across the continuum of care, with post-ICU recovery programs targeted to the unique needs of older adults.
IMPORTANCE: Little is known about functional trajectories of older persons in the year before and after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) or how pre-ICU functional trajectories affect ...post-ICU functional trajectories and death. OBJECTIVES: To characterize functional trajectories in the year before and after ICU admission and to evaluate the associations among pre-ICU functional trajectories and post-ICU functional trajectories, short-term mortality, and long-term mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective cohort study of 754 community-dwelling persons 70 years or older, conducted between March 23, 1998, and December 31, 2012, in greater New Haven, Connecticut. The analytic sample included 291 participants who had at least 1 admission to an ICU through December 2011. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Functional trajectories in the year before and after an ICU admission based on 13 basic, instrumental, and mobility activities. Additional outcomes included short-term (30 day) and long-term (1 year) mortality. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of participants was 83.7 (5.5) years. Three distinct pre-ICU functional trajectories identified were minimal disability (29.6%), mild to moderate disability (44.0%), and severe disability (26.5%). Seventy participants (24.1%) experienced early death, defined as death in the hospital (50 participants 17.2%) or death after hospital discharge but within 30 days of admission (20 participants 6.9%). Among the remaining 221 participants, 3 distinct post-ICU functional trajectories identified were minimal disability (20.8%), mild to moderate disability (28.1%), and severe disability (51.1%). More than half of the participants (53.4%) experienced functional decline or early death after critical illness. The pre-ICU functional trajectories of mild to moderate disability and severe disability were associated with more than double (adjusted hazard ratio HR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.29-4.50) and triple (adjusted HR, 3.84; 95% CI, 1.84-8.03) the risk of death within 1 year of ICU admission, respectively. Other factors associated with 1-year mortality included ICU length of stay (adjusted HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00-1.05), mechanical ventilation (adjusted HR, 2.89; 95% CI, 1.91-4.37), and shock (adjusted HR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.63-4.38). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among older persons with critical illness, more than half died within 1 month or experienced significant functional decline over the following year, with particularly poor outcomes in those who had high levels of premorbid disability. These results may help to inform discussions about prognosis and goals of care before and during critical illness.
Frailty is a strong indicator of vulnerability among older persons, but its association with ICU outcomes has not been evaluated prospectively (ie, with objective measurements obtained prior to ICU ...admission). Our objective was to prospectively evaluate the relationship between frailty and post-ICU disability, incident nursing home admission, and death.
The parent cohort included 754 adults aged ≥ 70 years, who were evaluated monthly for disability in 13 functional activities and every 18 months for frailty (1998-2014). Frailty was assessed using the Fried index, where frailty, prefrailty, and nonfrailty were defined, respectively, as at least three, one or two, and zero criteria (of five). The analytic sample included 391 ICU admissions.
The mean age was 84.0 years. Frailty and prefrailty were present prior to 213 (54.5%) and 140 (35.8%) of the 391 admissions, respectively. Relative to nonfrailty, frailty was associated with 41% greater disability over the 6 months following a critical illness (adjusted risk ratio, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.12-1.78); prefrailty conferred 28% greater disability (adjusted risk ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.01-1.63). Frailty (odds ratio, 3.52; 95% CI, 1.23-10.08), but not prefrailty (odds ratio, 2.01; 95% CI, 0.77-5.24), was associated with increased nursing home admission. Each one-point increase in frailty count (range, 0-5) was associated with double the likelihood of death (hazard ratio, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.33-3.00) through 6 months of follow-up.
Pre-ICU frailty status was associated with increased post-ICU disability and new nursing home admission among ICU survivors, and death among all admissions. Pre-ICU frailty status may provide prognostic information about outcomes after a critical illness.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) continues to impact older adults disproportionately with respect to serious consequences ranging from severe illness and hospitalization to increased mortality ...risk. Concurrently, concerns about potential shortages of healthcare professionals and health supplies to address these issues have focused attention on how these resources are ultimately allocated and used. Some strategies, for example, misguidedly use age as an arbitrary criterion that disfavors older adults in resource allocation decisions. This is a companion article to the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) position statement, “Resource Allocation Strategies and Age‐Related Considerations in the COVID‐19 Era and Beyond.” It is intended to inform stakeholders including hospitals, health systems, and policymakers about ethical considerations that should be considered when developing strategies for allocation of scarce resources during an emergency involving older adults. This review presents the legal and ethical background for the position statement and discusses these issues that informed the development of the AGS positions: (1) age as a determining factor, (2) age as a tiebreaker, (3) criteria with a differential impact on older adults, (4) individual choices and advance directives, (5) racial/ethnic disparities and resource allocation, and (6) scoring systems and their impact on older adults. It also considers the role of advance directives as expressions of individual preferences in pandemics. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1143–1149, 2020.
See related paper by Farrell et al.
Factors common to socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, such as low availability of transportation, may limit access to restorative care services for critical illness survivors. Our primary ...objective was to evaluate whether neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with an increased disability burden after critical illness. Our secondary objective was to determine if the effect differed for those discharged to the community compared with those discharged to a facility.
Longitudinal cohort study with linked Medicare claims data.
United States.
One hundred ninety-nine older adults, contributing to 239 ICU admissions, who underwent monthly assessments of disability for 12 months following hospital discharge in 13 different functional tasks from 1998 to 2017.
Neighborhood disadvantage was assessed using the area deprivation index, a 1-100 ranking evaluating poverty, housing, and employment metrics. Those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods (top quartile of scores) were less likely to self-identify as non-Hispanic White compared with those in more advantaged neighborhoods. In adjusted models, older adults living in disadvantaged neighborhoods had a 9% higher disability burden over the 12 months following ICU discharge compared with those in more advantaged areas (rate ratio, 1.09; 95% Bayesian credible interval, 1.02-1.16). In the secondary analysis adjusting for discharge destination, neighborhood disadvantage was associated with a 14% increase in disability burden over 12 months of follow-up (rate ratio, 1.14; 95% credible interval, 1.07-1.21). Disability burden was 10% higher for those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods and discharged home as compared with those discharged to a facility, but this difference was not statistically significant (interaction rate ratio, 1.10; 95% credible interval, 0.98-1.25).
Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with a higher disability burden in the 12 months after a critical illness. Future studies should evaluate barriers to functional recovery for ICU survivors living in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Older adults admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) are at risk for developing impairments in function, cognition, and mental health. It is not known whether socioeconomically disadvantaged older ...persons are at greater risk for these impairments than their less vulnerable counterparts.
To evaluate the association between socioeconomic disadvantage and decline in function, cognition, and mental health among older survivors of an ICU hospitalization.
Retrospective analysis of a longitudinal cohort study.
Community-dwelling older adults in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS).
Participants with ICU hospitalizations between 2011 and 2017.
Socioeconomic disadvantage was assessed as dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid status. The outcome of function was defined as the count of disabilities in 7 activities of daily living and mobility tasks, the cognitive outcome as the transition from no or possible to probable dementia, and the mental health outcome as the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 score in the NHATS interview after ICU hospitalization. The analytic sample included 641 ICU hospitalizations for function, 458 for cognition, and 519 for mental health.
After accounting for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, dual eligibility was associated with a 28% increase in disability after ICU hospitalization (incidence rate ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.64); and nearly 10-fold greater odds of transitioning to probable dementia (odds ratio, 9.79; 95% CI, 3.46 to 27.65). Dual eligibility was not associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety after ICU hospitalization (incidence rate ratio, 1.33; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.79).
Administrative data, variability in timing of baseline and outcome assessments, proxy selection.
Dual-eligible older persons are at greater risk for decline in function and cognition after an ICU hospitalization than their more advantaged counterparts. This finding highlights the need to prioritize low-income seniors in rehabilitation and recovery efforts after critical illness and warrants investigation into factors leading to this disparity.
National Institute on Aging.
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