Baseline characteristics of the paediatric intermediate care unit population
| Baseline characteristics | Total, n=2870 | Included patients, n=2636 | Excluded patients*, n=234 | P value |
| Sex ratio | 1.26 | 1.26 | 1.32 | ns |
| Median age months (IQR) | 29 (5–103) | 28 (5–98) | 42 (7–162) | 0.01 |
| Median length of stay days (IQR) | 1.0 (1.0–3.0) | 1.5 (0.8–2.7) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | <10−4 |
| Comorbidities, n (%)† | 945 (32.9) | 876 (33.2) | 69 (29.5) | ns |
| Location prior to admission, n (%)† | 0.001 | |||
| Emergency | 2006 (69.9) | 1851 (70.2) | 155 (66.2) | |
| Paediatric ward | 386 (13.4) | 361 (13.7) | 25 (10.7) | |
| Operating room | 71 (2.5) | 68 (2.6) | 3 (1.3) | |
| PICU | 25 (0.9) | 25 (0.9) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Home | 377 (13.1) | 328 (12.4) | 49 (20.9) | |
| Type of stay, n (%)† | ns | |||
| Medical | 2714 (94.6) | 2490 (94.5) | 224 (95.7) | |
| Surgical | 119 (4.1) | 113 (4.3) | 6 (2.6) | |
| Primary reason for admission, n (%)† | 0.002 | |||
| Respiratory | 1272 (44.3) | 1191 (45.2) | 81 (34.6) | |
| Neurological | 627 (21.8) | 580 (22.0) | 47 (20.0) | |
| Cardiovascular | 218 (7.6) | 198 (7.5) | 20 (8.5) | |
| Gastrointestinal | 222 (8.2) | 202 (7.7) | 20 (8.5) | |
| Others | 529 (18.4) | 465 (17.6) | 64 (27.3) | |
| Cause of primary diseases, n (%)† | <10−4 | |||
| Infectious | 1546 (53.9) | 1450 (55.0) | 96 (41.0) | |
| Toxicological | 201 (7.0) | 176 (6.7) | 25 (10.7) | |
| Congenital | 136 (4.7) | 127 (4.8) | 9 (3.8) | |
| Trauma | 126 (4.4) | 114 (4.3) | 12 (5.1) | |
| Oncological | 65 (2.3) | 42 (1.6) | 23 (9.8) | |
| Others | 794 (27.7) | 727 (27.6) | 67 (28.6) | |
| Destination, n (%)† | ||||
| Home | 1024 (35.7) | 937 (35.5) | 87 (37.2) | |
| Paediatric ward | 1586 (55.3) | 1487 (56.4) | 99 (42.3) | |
| Others | 246 (8.6) | 201 (7.6) | 45 (19.2) | |
| Transfer to PICU n (%)† | 85 (3.0) | 68 (2.6) | 17 (7.3) | <10−4 |
| Death, n | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Median score at admission (IQR) | ||||
| PAWS | 2 (0–4) | 3 (2–4) | 2 (1–4) | 0.001 |
| PEWS | 0 (0–2) | 1 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | 0.005 |
| Bedside PEWS | 3 (0–5) | 3 (2–6) | 3 (1–5) | 0.004 |
*Numbers and percentages take into account missing data.
†234 excluded patients: lost records (n=2), at least one score missing at H0 (n=27), at least one score could not be computed after H0 (n=205).
Bedside PEWS, Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System; ns, not significant; PICU, paediatric intensive care unit; PAWS, Paediatric Advanced Warning Score; PEWS, Paediatric Early Warning Score.