Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Sep 1:5:475.
doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-5-475.

National intensive care unit bed capacity and ICU patient characteristics in a low income country

Arthur Kwizera  1 , Martin Dünser, Jane Nakibuuka
Affiliations

National intensive care unit bed capacity and ICU patient characteristics in a low income country

Arthur Kwizera et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Background: Primary health care delivery in the developing world faces many challenges. Priority setting favours HIV, TB and malaria interventions. Little is known about the challenges faced in this setting with regard to critical care medicine. The aim of this study was to analyse and categorise the diagnosis and outcomes of 1,774 patients admitted to a hospital intensive care unit (ICU) in a low-income country over a 7-year period. We also assessed the country's ICU bed capacity and described the challenges faced in dealing with critically ill patients in this setting.

Findings: A retrospective audit was conducted in a general ICU in a university hospital in Uganda. Demographic data, admission diagnosis, and ICU length of stay were recorded for the 1,774 patients who presented to the ICU in the period January 2003 to December 2009. Their mean age was 35.5 years. Males accounted for 56.5% of the study population; 92.8% were indigenous, and 42.9% were referrals from upcountry units. The average mortality rate over the study period was 40.1% (n = 715). The highest mortality rate (44%) was recorded in 2004 and the lowest (33.2%) in 2005. Children accounted for 11.6% of admissions (40.1% mortality). Sepsis, ARDS, traumatic brain injuries and HIV related conditions were the most frequent admission diagnoses. A telephonic survey determined that there are 33 adult ICU beds in the whole country.

Conclusions: Mortality was 40.1%, with sepsis, head injury, acute lung injury and HIV/AIDS the most common admission diagnoses. The country has a very low ICU bed capacity. Prioritising infectious diseases poses a challenge to ensuring that critical care is an essential part of the health care package in Uganda.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Survival curve length of stay and probability of survival.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adhikari NK, Fowler RA, Bhagwanjee S, Rubenfeld GD. Critical care and the global burden of critical illness in adults. Lancet. 2010;376:1339–46. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60446-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dünser MW, Baelani I, Ganbold L. A review and analysis of intensive care medicine in the least developed countries. Crit Care Med. 2006;34(Suppl 4):1234–1242. - PubMed
    1. Riviello ED, Letchford S, Achieng L, Newton MW. Critical care in resource-poor settings: lessons learned and future directions. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(Suppl 4):860–867. - PubMed
    1. Adhikari NKJ, Rubenfeld GD. Worldwide demand for critical care. Curr Opin Crit Care. 2011;17:620–625. doi: 10.1097/MCC.0b013e32834cd39c. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Oyegunle AO, Oyegunle VA. The intensive care unit in a young Nigerian teaching hospital: the Sagamu (1994–1997) experience - a retrospective study. Afr J Anaesth Int Care. 1997;3:41–43.

MeSH terms