Survival after intensive care. Comparison with a matched normal population as an indicator of effectiveness.

The life expectancy for survivors of critical illness has not been reported in the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to compare the long-term survival of intensive care patients with that of an age and sex-matched population. All patients admitted to a general intensive therapy unit over 4 years (n = 1168) were included in the study. Details of the survivors were forwarded to the Registrar General for Scotland, who then issued copies of death certificates as the survivors died. The survival curve of patients discharged from the intensive therapy unit was significantly different from that of the normal population. The risk of dying in the first year after discharge was 3.4 times higher (95% confidence intervals 2.7-4.2) than that in the normal population. It is not until the start of the fourth year after discharge that the probability of death matched that of the normal population.