Investigating the causes and the consequences of hospitalization in intensive care units

The demand for hospitalization in intensive care units is increasing. The purpose of this study was “to investigate the causes and the consequences of hospitalization in the intensive care units”. All patients hospitalized from July 20, 2010 to July 20, 2011 in Shohaday-e Ashayer Hospital, Khorramabad, Iran, were recruited to this observational descriptive-analytic study by using the census technique. The data collection instruments were the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scoring and a demographic questionnaire whose validity and reliability had been confirmed. Study data were analyzed by using the SPSS v. 19.0. The most common cause of hospitalization in intensive care units was traffic accidents (42.2%). About 62.2% of the study participants developed hospital-acquired complications, chiefly pneumonia (24%). Mortality rate among the study participants was 29.13%. There was a significant correlation between the length of hospital stay and the rate of hospital-acquired complications. The rate of hospitalization in intensive care units can be reduced through adopting strategies for preventing traffic accidents and brain strokes. Moreover, the rates of mortality and hospital-acquired complications can be decreased by shortening patients’ stay in intensive care units.