Impact of intensive care unit admission during morning bedside rounds and mortality: a multi-center retrospective cohort study

Recent data have suggested that patient admission during intensive care unit (ICU) morning bedside rounds is associated with less favorable outcome. We undertook the present study to explore the association between morning round-time ICU admissions and hospital mortality in a large Canadian health region.

A multi-center retrospective cohort study was performed at five hospitals in Edmonton, Canada, between July 2002 and December 2009. Round-time ICU admission was defined as occurring between 8 and 11:59 a.m. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association between round-time admission and outcome.

Of 18,857 unique ICU admissions, 2,055 (10.9%) occurred during round time. Round-time admissions were more frequent in community hospitals compared with tertiary hospitals (12.0% vs. 10.5%; odds ratio [OR] 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.29, P < 0.004) and from the ward compared with the emergency department (ED) or operating theater (17.5% vs. 9.2%; OR 2.1; 95% CI, 1.9-2.3, P < 0.0001). Round-time admissions were more often medical than surgical (12.6% vs. 6.6%; OR 2.06; 95% CI, 1.83-2.31, P < 0.0001), had more comorbid illness (11.9% vs. 10.5%; OR 1.15; 95% CI, 1.04-1.27, P < 0.008) and higher APACHE II score (22.2 vs. 21.3, P < 0.001), and were more likely to have a primary diagnosis of respiratory failure (37.0% vs. 31.3%, P < 0.001) or sepsis (11.1% vs. 9.0%, P = 0.002). Crude ICU mortality (15.3% vs. 11.6%; OR 1.38; 95% CI, 1.21-1.57, P < 0.0001) and hospital mortality (23.9% vs. 20.6%; OR 1.21; 95% CI, 1.09-1.35, P < 0.001) were higher for round-time compared with non-round-time admissions. In multi-variable analysis, round-time admission was associated with increased ICU mortality (OR 1.19, 95% CI, 1.03-1.38, P = 0.017) but was not significantly associated with hospital mortality (OR 1.02; 95% CI, 0.90-1.16, P = 0.700). In the subgroup admitted from the ED, round-time admission showed significantly higher ICU mortality (OR 1.54; 95% CI, 1.21-1.95; P < 0.001) and a trend for higher hospital mortality (OR 1.22; 95% CI, 0.99-1.51, P = 0.057).

Approximately 1 in 10 patients is admitted during morning rounds. These patients are more commonly admitted from the ward and are burdened by comorbidities, are non-operative, and have higher illness severity. These patients admitted during morning rounds have higher observed ICU mortality but no difference in hospital mortality.