Do ICU Admissions for Patients That Trigger on the Floor Differ by Patient Demographics?

Introduction: We wished to examine whether patient demographics impact decisions to transfer to the ICU if the patient triggers on the floor for abnormal vital signs or clinical needs.


Methods: Data:
Participants: All ICU admissions from the medical and surgical floors to any Intensive care unit.
● 26,909 triggers from January 2019 - May 2024
● 13,799 unique patients: 12,673 (91.8%) remained on the floor, 1,126 (8.2%) ever transferred to the ICU
Analytic Approach:
● Logistic regression models reporting odds of being transferred to the ICU by demographics,
○ Standard errors clustered by patient
○ Interaction terms between trigger reasons and race


Results: Findings:
● Of the variables examined married status is significantly associated with increased odds of a trigger resulting in transfer to the ICU.
● (Ex: married patients have 18.6% higher odds of a trigger event leading to an ICU stay compared to single patients)
● Being female is significantly associated with decreased odds of transfer to the ICU.
● (Ex: Female patients have 13.5% lower odds of a trigger event leading to an ICU stay compared to Male patients)
● The relationship between trigger reason and ICU transfer does not significantly vary by race or age
● These non-significant findings suggest that the race does not significantly modify the association between trigger reasons and transfer to the ICU in this analysis.


Conclusions:

Conclusions:
This data shows significant differences in women being admitted to the ICU when triggered on the floor for similar abnormalities in vital signs. Future research should prioritize prospective studies with more granular data to better understand and address this disparity.