Imperial College London
Alternate

ProfessorStephenBrett

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer

Professor of Critical Care
 
 
 
//

Contact

 

+44 (0)20 3313 4521stephen.brett Website

 
 
//

Location

 

Hammersmith House 570Hammersmith HospitalHammersmith Campus

//

Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Warner:2023:ageing/afad035,
author = {Warner, B and Harry, A and Wells, M and Brett, S and Antcliffe, D},
doi = {ageing/afad035},
journal = {Age and Ageing},
pages = {1--13},
title = {Escalation to intensive care for the older patient. An exploratory qualitative study of patients aged over 65 years and their next of kin during the COVID-19 pandemic: the ESCALATE study},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afad035},
volume = {52},
year = {2023}
}
Download

RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Background: Older people comprise the majority of hospital medical inpatients so decision-making regarding admission of this cohort to the intensive care unit (ICU) is important. ICU can be perceived by clinicians as overly burdensome for patients and loved ones, and long-term impact on quality of life considered unacceptable, effecting potential bias against admitting older people to ICU. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the challenge of selecting those who could most benefit from ICU. Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explore the views and recollections of escalation to ICU from older patients (aged ≥65 years) and next of kin (NoK)who experienced a COVID-19 ICU admission. Setting: The main site was a large NHS Trust in London, which experienced a high burden of COVID-19 cases. Subjects: 30 participants, comprising 12 patients, 7 NoK of survivor and 11 NoK of deceased. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with thematic analysis using a framework approach. Results: There were five major themes: Inevitability, Disconnect, Acceptance, Implications for future decision making and Unique impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Life was highly valued and ICU perceived to be the only option. Prior understanding of ICU and admission decision-making explanations were limited. Despite benefit of hindsight, having experienced an ICU admission and its consequences, most could not conceptualise thresholds for future acceptable treatment outcomes.Conclusions: In this study of patients ≥65 years and their NoK experiencing an acute ICU admission, survival was prioritised. Despite the ordeal of an ICU stay and its aftermath, the decision to admit and sequelae were considered acceptable.
AU  - Warner,B
AU  - Harry,A
AU  - Wells,M
AU  - Brett,S
AU  - Antcliffe,D
DO  - ageing/afad035
EP  - 13
PY  - 2023///
SN  - 0002-0729
SP  - 1
TI  - Escalation to intensive care for the older patient. An exploratory qualitative study of patients aged over 65 years and their next of kin during the COVID-19 pandemic: the ESCALATE study
T2  - Age and Ageing
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afad035
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/52/4/afad035/7127657
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/101465
VL  - 52
ER  -
Download