The ethical challenge and the futile treatment in the older population admitted to the intensive care unit.

Projections for the future suggest that the United States population will grow by 10-15% by the year 2000, but the number of people over the age of 80 will increase by 66%. As a result, the increase that has already been observed in the number of elderly patients requiring major medical attention can only be expected to grow. This study reviews the admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) over the last 5 years by age to analyze whether the ICU admissions are higher for the patients older than 60 years of age. We considered all the admissions to the surgical (SICU) and medical (MICU) intensive care units at Morristown Memorial Hospital from January 1, 1992, to December 31, 1996. Patients were divided into age brackets (0-9 years, 10-19 years, 20-29 years,... > 90 years) and by gender. Medical and surgical admissions were analyzed including the average length of stay in the ICU. Daily charge for bed occupancy was reviewed based on the hospital data reported in 1995. The death rate was also considered. Fisher-corrected chi 2 and a Student t test were used for statistical analysis. A total of 6243 patients (2926 female and 3317 male) were admitted to the ICU over the 5-year period. The ICU admissions rate was higher in patients above 60 years of age compared with those below 60 (60% versus 30%, respectively). The age group with the highest admissions rate was between 70 and 79 years, followed by the 60-69-year group. These two groups had significantly more admission than all other groups (P < 0.001). Medical patients' length of stay was shorter than the surgical group, and they had a lower rate of admission to the ICU. The death rate was higher in the group older than 60 years. They also spent a longer time in ICU compared with the younger group (22 +/- 7 days versus 12 +/- 8 days). The charge per day per bed was $2100 in the ICU, $1600 in a telemetry floor, and $950 in a regular floor. The charge per bed in the group above 60 years old was double compared with the one for the younger group. Older patients were admitted to the ICU with a significantly higher frequency than was the younger group. There were more surgical than medical patients admitted to the ICU. The mortality rate and the daily cost, based on daily bed charge, was significantly higher in the older group. Based on our experience, older people had a more difficult recovery in ICU than did the younger people. In our opinion we should treat acute critical illness but not terminal pathology. A problem exists in educating physicians about which patients will derive no benefit from the ICU. This will determine if we can decrease or avoid the use of the ICU and its accompanying expense, in situations where it does not significantly increase survival and the quality of life.