Hospital outcomes of children admitted to intensive care in British Columbia via interfacility transfer versus direct admission from 2015 to 2017: a descriptive analysis

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Table 1:

Baseline characteristics of patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit

Characteristic	No. (%) of patients^*			p value
Characteristic	Total n = 870	Admitted from the ED n = 386	Transported from referring hospital n = 484	p value
Sex
Male	490 (56.3)	217 (56.2)	273 (56.4)	> 0.9
Female	380 (43.7)	169 (43.8)	211 (43.6)	> 0.9
Age, mo, median (IQR)	41 (9–121)	52 (10–135)	32 (7–115)	0.01
Weight, kg, median (IQR)	15 (8–35)	16 (9–36)	14 (7–31)	0.04
PRISM3 risk score, median (IQR)	0.63 (0.3–1.1)	0.49 (0.3–1.0)	0.63 (0.3–1.6)	< 0.001
Admission category
Respiratory	360 (41.4)	168 (43.5)	192 (39.7)	0.3
Cardiac	49 (5.6)	18 (4.7)	31 (6.4)	0.3
Neurologic	156 (17.9)	59 (15.3)	97 (20.0)	0.08
Gastrointestinal or surgical	13 (1.5)	5 (1.3)	8 (1.7)	0.9
Infections/sepsis	60 (6.9)	32 (8.3)	28 (5.8)	0.2
Endocrine	40 (4.6)	19 (4.9)	21 (4.3)	0.8
Trauma, burns or drowning	89 (10.2)	39 (10.1)	50 (10.3)	> 0.9
Oncological	15 (1.7)	7 (1.8)	8 (1.7)	> 0.9
Poison/overdose	40 (4.6)	11 (2.8)	29 (6.0)	0.04
Other	29 (3.3)	18 (4.7)	11 (2.3)	0.08
Missing	19 (2.2)	10 (2.6)	9 (1.9)	0.6
Transport modality
Private vehicle	249 (28.6)	248 (64.2)	1 (0.2)	–
Ambulance	402 (46.2)	138 (35.8)	264 (54.5)	–
Helicopter	41 (4.7)	0	41 (8.5)	–
Fixed-wing aircraft	178 (20.5)	0	178 (36.8)	–
Distance, km, median (IQR)	–	–	67.1 (32.9–274.2)	–

Note: ED = emergency department, IQR = interquartile range, PRISM3 = Pediatric Risk of Mortality III.
↵* Unless stated otherwise.

Table 2:

Outcome comparisons according to source of admission among patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit

Outcome	Total n = 870	Admitted from the ED n = 386	Transported from referring hospital n = 484	p value
PICU length of stay, d, median (IQR)	1.88 (0.8–4.1)	1.60 (0.8–3.4)	2.43 (0.9–4.6)	< 0.001
Use of mechanical ventilation within 24 hours, no. (%)	591 (67.9)	224 (58.0)	367 (75.8)	< 0.001
Hospital mortality, no. (%)	55 (6.3)	15 (3.9)	40 (8.3)	0.008