Baseline characteristics of the study patients at intensive care unit (ICU) admission
| Baseline characteristics | Period 1 (control) (N=479) | Period 2 (N=640) | Period 3 (N=801) | p** | ||||||
| Non-IL-MET hours (N=336, 70%) | IL-MET hours (N=143, 30%) | p* | Non-IL-MET hours (N=455, 71%) | IL-MET hours (N=185, 29%) | p* | Non-IL-MET hours (N=542, 68%) | IL-MET hours (N=259, 32%) | p* | ||
| Men, n (%) | 206 (61) | 79 (55) | 0.21 | 266 (58) | 114 (62) | 0.46 | 318 (59) | 151 (58) | 0.92 | 0.74 |
| Age years, mean (SD) | 59 (16) | 62 (16) | 0.12 | 60 (16) | 61 (15) | 0.34 | 60 (16) | 62 (16) | 0.16 | 0.81 |
| APACHE II, mean (SD) | 23 (9) | 22 (9) | 0.80 | 24 (9) | 24 (8) | 0.83 | 24 (8) | 24 (8) | 0.69 | 0.009 |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | ||||||||||
| None | 174 (51.8) | 66 (46.2) | 0.26 | 253 (55.6) | 109 (58.9) | 0.44 | 294 (54.2) | 147 (56.8) | 0.50 | 0.09 |
| One | 141 (42.0) | 67 (46.9) | 0.99 | 153 (33.6) | 61 (33.0) | 0.42 | 195 (35.9) | 92 (35.5) | 0.44 | 0.02 |
| Two or more | 21 (6.3) | 10 (6.9) | 0.99 | 49 (10.8) | 15 (8.1) | 0.42 | 53 (9.9) | 20 (7.7) | 0.44 | 0.02 |
| Comorbid condition, n (%) | ||||||||||
| Immunosuppression | 47 (14.0) | 23 (16.1) | 0.55 | 62 (13.6) | 29 (15.7) | 0.50 | 91 (16.8) | 29 (11.2) | 0.04 | 0.86 |
| Haematological cancer | 22 (6.6) | 10 (7.0) | 0.86 | 28 (6.2) | 9 (4.9) | 0.53 | 49 (9.0) | 19 (7.3) | 0.42 | 0.24 |
| Metastatic cancer | 17 (5.1) | 4 (2.8) | 0.27 | 10 (2.2) | 4 (2.2) | 0.97 | 17 (3.1) | 12 (4.6) | 0.29 | 0.49 |
| Hepatic failure | 24 (7.1) | 10 (7.0) | 0.95 | 46 (10.1) | 11 (5.9) | 0.09 | 53 (9.8) | 25 (9.7) | 0.96 | 0.11 |
| Chronic renal failure | 29 (8.6) | 11 (7.7) | 0.73 | 48 (10.6) | 12 (6.5) | 0.11 | 42 (7.8) | 21 (8.1) | 0.86 | 0.75 |
| Congestive heart failure | 15 (4.5) | 11 (7.7) | 0.15 | 18 (4.0) | 11 (5.7) | 0.27 | 7 (1.3) | 1 (0.4) | 0.23 | <0.001 |
| Chronic lung disease | 27 (8.1) | 17 (11.9) | 0.18 | 35 (7.7) | 16 (8.7) | 0.69 | 40 (7.4) | 21 (8.1) | 0.72 | 0.32 |
| Routine cardiac surgery | 1 (0.3) | 0 | 0.51 | 4 (0.9) | 2 (1.1) | 0.81 | 1 (0.2) | 2 (0.8) | 0.20 | 0.61 |
| AIDS | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.7) | 0.53 | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.5) | 0.51 | 3 (0.6) | 2 (0.8) | 0.71 | 0.63 |
| Primary ICU diagnosis, n (%) | ||||||||||
| Respiratory | 161 (47.9) | 65 (45.5) | 0.62 | 201 (44.2) | 75 (40.5) | 0.40 | 204 (37.6) | 112 (43.2) | 0.13 | 0.007 |
| Gastrointestinal | 43 (12.8) | 16 (11.2) | 0.62 | 52 (11.4) | 19 (10.3) | 0.67 | 70 (12.9) | 28 (10.8) | 0.39 | 0.96 |
| Trauma | 10 (2.9) | 2 (1.4) | 0.31 | 27 (5.9) | 6 (3.2) | 0.16 | 17 (3.1) | 12 (4.6) | 0.29 | 0.27 |
| Sepsis | 27 (8.0) | 12 (8.4) | 0.89 | 55 (12.1) | 26 (14.1) | 0.49 | 93 (17.2) | 42 (16.2) | 0.74 | <0.001 |
| Neurological | 34 (10.1) | 20 (14.0) | 0.22 | 35 (7.7) | 15 (8.1) | 0.85 | 35 (6.5) | 20 (7.7) | 0.51 | 0.006 |
| Cardiovascular | 40 (11.9) | 17 (11.9) | 0.99 | 52 (11.4) | 30 (16.2) | 0.10 | 88 (16.2) | 37 (14.3) | 0.48 | 0.07 |
| Metabolic | 5 (1.5) | 2 (1.4) | 0.94 | 9 (2.0) | 2 (1.1) | 0.42 | 11 (2.0) | 0 | 0.02 | 0.89 |
| Renal | 7 (2.1) | 4 (2.8) | 0.63 | 18 (3.9) | 5 (2.7) | 0.44 | 13 (2.4) | 4 (1.5) | 0.43 | 0.84 |
| Haematological | 3 (0.9) | 3 (2.1) | 0.27 | 2 (0.4) | 6 (3.2) | 0.004 | 11 (2.0) | 4 (1.5) | 0.64 | 0.39 |
| Other | 6 (1.8) | 2 (1.4) | 0.76 | 4 (0.9) | 1 (0.5) | 0.66 | 0 | 0 | ||
Period 1 (1 July 2002–31 August 2004): no medical emergency team (MET); period 2 (1 September 2004–11 February 2007): partial MET coverage (no dedicated intensivist); period 3 (12 February 2007–31 December 2009): hospital-wide dedicated intensivist-led MET (IL-MET). IL-MET hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00–15:59; non-MET hours: all other times out of IL-MET hours.
p*=comparison between IL-MET hours and non-IL-MET hours; p**=comparison between period 1 and period 3.