Analysis of the Evolution of Mortality in an Intensive Care Unit

September 17, 2026 updated by: Fernando Frutos-Vivar, Hospital Universitario Getafe

Epidemiological Analysis of the Evolution of the Case-mix and Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit of Hospital Universitario de Getafe (1991-2026)

The intensive care units is of the main components of modern healthcare systems. Formally, its aim is to offer the critically ill health care fit to their needs; ensuring that this health care is appropriate, sustainable, ethical and respectful of their autonomy. Intensive medicine is a cross-sectional specialty that encompasses a broad spectrum of pathologies in their most severe condition, and specifically has as its foundation the practice of comprehensive care of the patient with organ dysfunction and susceptible to recovery. Although critically ill patients are a heterogeneous population, they have in common the need for a high level of care, often requiring the use of high technology, specific procedures for the support of organ dysfunction and the collaboration of other medical and surgical specialties for their management and treatment.

Since their origins in the late 1950s, intensive care units have been adapting to the changes arising from the best scientific evidence. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were some successful clinical trials published that had tested alternative management strategies in the ICU.

Mechanical ventilation is an intervention that defines the critical care specialty. Between 1970 and the 1990s, the management focused on normalizing arterial blood gas with aggressive mechanical ventilation. Over the ensuing decades, it became apparent that performing positive pressure ventilation worsened lung injury. The pivotal moment in the mechanical ventilation story would be the low versus high tidal volume trial. This trial shifted the focus away from normalizing gas exchange to reducing harm with mechanical ventilation. Further, it paved way for further trials testing ventilation interventions (PEEP strategy, prone position ventilation) and nonventilation interventions (neuromuscular blockade, corticosteroids, inhaled nitric oxide, extracorporeal gas exchange) in critically ill patients.

That evidence-based intensive care medicine has undoubtedly had an influence on the outcome of critically ill patients, in general, and, particularly, of patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Temporal changes in mortality over the time have been scarcely reported for patients admitted to intensive care unit.

Objective of this study is to estimate the changes over the time in several outcomes in the patients admitted to an 18-beds medical-surgical intensive care unit from 1991 (year of start of activity) to 2026

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

27463

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Madrid
      • Getafe, Madrid, Spain, 28905
        • Hospital Universitario de Getafe

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients who required a admission to intensive care unit

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients admitted to intensive care unit

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: COHORT
  • Time Perspectives: RETROSPECTIVE

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intensive Care Unit Mortality
Time Frame: 180 days

Died during stay in the intensive care unit

180 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hospital Mortality
Time Frame: 180 days

Died during stay in the hospital

180 days
Mortality 28-day
Time Frame: 28 days from date of admission in the Hospital

Mortality at day 28 after admission in the Hospital

28 days from date of admission in the Hospital
Use of Mechanical ventilation
Time Frame: 180 days

Proportion of patients who required mechanical ventilation (invasive and non-invasive) during stay in the intensive care unit

180 days
Length of stay in the intensive care unit
Time Frame: 180 days

Stay in the intensive care unit

180 days
Length of stay in the hospital
Time Frame: 180 days

Stay in the hospital

180 days
Complications/events during stay in the intensive care unit
Time Frame: 180 days

Rate of complications/events occurred in the intensive care unit

180 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Fernando Frutos-Vivar, MD, Hospital Universitario de Getafe

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

July 16, 1991

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 16, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

July 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 12, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 20, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

March 2, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 17, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Evolution mortality ICU

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.