Etiologies and Outcomes of Acute Respiratory Failure in Community

Acute respiratory failure (ARF) remains a common reason for admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). ARF to be present in 32% of patients on ICU admission, with a further 24% of patients developing ARF during the ICU stay [1]. A total of 56% of all ICU admissions for a length of >48 h had ARF at some point during their stay [1]. The incidence of ARF was from 88.6 to 137.1 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents [2, 3]. The incidence of ARF was found to increase nearly exponentially with each decade until age 85 years. However, there is still paucity data about etiology and outcomes of acute respiratory failure happened in community.

Mortality of ARF in critically ill patients is between 40% and 65% [2, 4-6]. Independent hazards for ARF mortality include older age, severe chronic co-morbidities (HIV, active malignancy, cirrhosis), certain precipitating events (trauma, drug overdose, bone marrow transplant), and multiple organ system failure (MOSF) [7-9]. Mortality has also been associated with acute lung injury or bilateral infiltrates on chest radiograph [6], and with an elevated acute physiology score [9-10].

ARF patients form a large percentage of all ICU admissions and many factors might influence the final outcomes. With the high incidence of ARF in ICU, any improvement in the outcome of such population is likely to have marked effect on intensive care resource allocation. We wish this study may provide some valuable information about acute respiratory failure in community and improve the outcome of these patients.

References:

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