Patients’ characterization, hospital course and clinical outcomes in five Italian respiratory intensive care units

Background Respiratory intensive care units (RICU) dedicated to weaning could be suitable facilities for clinical management of “post-ICU” patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the time course of patients’ characteristics, clinical outcomes and medical staff utilization in five Italian RICUs by comparing three periods of 5 consecutive years (from 1991 to 2005). Results A total of 3,106 patients (age 76 ± 4 years; 72% males) were analyzed. The number of co-morbidities per patient (from 1.8 to 3.0, p = 0.05) and the previous intensive care unit (ICU) stay (from 25 to 32 days, p = 0.002) increased over time. The doctor-to-patient ratio significantly decreased over time (from 1:3 to 1:5, p