Background & Aims: Techniques like APACHE IV (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV) are used extensively for mortality rate of patients with different diagnosis in the intensive care unit. These indexes are also considered as a standard tool for studying duration of hospitalization, quality evaluation of care provided and classification of illness severity. The purpose of this study was to determine predicted mortality rate and duration of hospital stay in-patient admission in intensive care unit with APACHE IV technique.

Materials &Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on patients that were hospitalized in ICU with different diagnosis during six months of 2010 in two hospitals.  Demographic profiling and APACHE IV was used.

Results: From 240 patients admitted in ICU, 159 patients (66.3%) remained alive. The mean APACHE IV patients were 50.62 ± 19.07(minimum 13 and maximum 98). Predicted mortality rate using APACHE IV was 11.18% and observed mortality was 33.7%. APACHE IV score in the survived patients were 44.94% and died patients were 66.77% (P = 0.000, t: 7.10).

Conclusions: The result of the present research showed that the APACHE IV can predict mortality of hospitalized patients in the intensive care unit precisely. Using these indicators and other instruments, we can classify the severity of diseases and predict the probable duration of treatment in ICU. It is recommended to conduct further studies in this field.

SOURCE: URMIA MED J 2012: 23(4): 462 ISSN: 1027-3727