The differences between two selected intensive care units located in central and northern Europe - preliminary observation

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate possible differences in the functioning of two selected intensive care units in Poland and Finland. The activity of the units was analysed over a period of one year. Methods: The following parameters were compared: demography of treated populations, site of admission, category of illness, severity of illness (APACHE-II scale), mean length of stay, demanded workload (TISS-28 scale), mortality (both ICU and hospital) and standardized mortality ratio (SMR). Results: The results of this study indicated that most of the patients in the Polish ICU, regardless of age, diagnosis and APACHE II score, presented significantly longer lengths of stay (14.65 +/- 13.6 vs 4.1 +/- 4.7 days, P = 0.0001), higher mean TISS-28 score (38.9 +/- 9.1 vs 31.2 +/- 6.1, P = 0.0001) and higher ICU and hospital mortality (41.5% vs 10.2% and 44.7% vs 21.8%, respectively, P = 0.0001). The values of SMR were 0.9 and 0.85 for the Finnish and Polish ICUs, respectively. Conclusion: The collected data indicate huge differences in the utilisation of critical care resources. Treatment in Polish ICU is concentrated on much more severely ill patients which might be sometimes accompanied by futility of care. In order to verify and correctly interpret the presented phenomena, further studies are needed.