Length of ICU stay for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease varies among large community hospitals

To determine whether differences exist among large community hospitals in length of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay, hospital stay or hospital mortality for patients admitted to ICU and whose most responsible diagnosis was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Retrospective cohort study. All seven large community hospitals in British Columbia, Canada. PATIENTS. All 296 patients who were admitted to ICUs and whose most responsible diagnosis was COPD during the 3 fiscal years 1994-1997. None. After adjusting for age, gender, case-mix group, and co-morbidity, we found a significant difference in length of ICU stay for these patients among hospitals ( P