Abstract

BEMBIBRE TABOADA, Rubén; HERNANDEZ RODRIGUEZ, Yoel Alberto  and  CORONA MARTINEZ, Luis Alberto. Mortalidad oculta en terapia intermedia. Rev cubana med [online]. 1999, vol.38, n.4, pp. 258-262. ISSN 1561-302X.

A descriptive study was conducted to know some aspects concerning mortality at the Intermediate Care Unit (ICU) during a 2-year period, and to determine the occult mortality in this service. The necropsy protocols and the mortality registries (n-928) were reviewed. A survey was done to collect data of interest, such as: age, sex, death date, basic and direct cause of death, autopsy, clinical and pathological correlation, clinical diagnosis and length of stay. These data were processed by a computer system designed to this end. The main results were shown in tables and graphs. The occult mortality of the series was less than 3 %. During October, 1996, it was observed the highest peak of deaths at the ICU, mainly from cerebrovascular disease and ischemic heart disease. The most frequent basic cause of death was cerebrovascular disease (28.5 %), wihch also had the largest lethality among the main causes of death (31.4 %). The average age of the dead was between 69 and 70 years old. It was lower in those who died from traumas and poisonings. The highest mean length of stay corresponded to cerebrovascular disease (6.3 days). The amount of deaths as a result of cerebrovascular disease and ischemic heart disease considerably in 1997, as well as lethality, which was more evident for the first entity. The autopsy index at Unit was high, over 85 %, with an adequate total clinicopathological correlation in more than 90 % of the cases. Bronchopneumonia was the commonest direct cause of death.

Keywords : MORTALITY; INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITIES..

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