Biomaterial Database

The "patient-centered" outcomes of critical care: what are they and how should they be used? 1998

J R Curtis

Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

There is a growing recognition that clinical research needs to define and focus on the outcomes of medical care which are important to patients. The outcomes important to patients have been coined "patient-centered" outcomes. In the past, clinical research in critical care medicine has tended to focus on survival and physiologic impairment, and not as much on outcomes such as functional status and quality of life. While survival and physiologic impairment are the appropriate outcomes in some settings, we also need to address important questions about the effect of critical care medicine on other outcomes. The goals of this article are to describe the patient-centered outcomes of critical care research, to identify important issues and pitfalls in measuring these outcomes, and to identify the situations in which these outcomes may be more or less important. The outcomes addressed include: mortality, patient-assessed outcomes (quality of life, functional status, and health status), physiologic parameters, process-of-care measures, and quality of death.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009026	Mortality	All deaths reported in a given population.	CFR Case Fatality Rate,Crude Death Rate,Crude Mortality Rate,Death Rate,Age Specific Death Rate,Age-Specific Death Rate,Case Fatality Rate,Decline, Mortality,Determinants, Mortality,Differential Mortality,Excess Mortality,Mortality Decline,Mortality Determinants,Mortality Rate,Mortality, Differential,Mortality, Excess,Age-Specific Death Rates,Case Fatality Rates,Crude Death Rates,Crude Mortality Rates,Death Rate, Age-Specific,Death Rate, Crude,Death Rates,Determinant, Mortality,Differential Mortalities,Excess Mortalities,Mortalities,Mortality Declines,Mortality Determinant,Mortality Rate, Crude,Mortality Rates,Rate, Age-Specific Death,Rate, Case Fatality,Rate, Crude Death,Rate, Crude Mortality,Rate, Death,Rate, Mortality,Rates, Case Fatality
D011787	Quality of Health Care	The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.	Pharmacy Audit,Quality of Care,Quality of Healthcare,Audit, Pharmacy,Care Quality,Health Care Quality,Healthcare Quality,Pharmacy Audits
D003422	Critical Care	Health care provided to a critically ill patient during a medical emergency or crisis.	Intensive Care,Intensive Care, Surgical,Surgical Intensive Care,Care, Critical,Care, Intensive,Care, Surgical Intensive
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D017060	Patient Satisfaction	The degree to which the individual regards the health care service or product or the manner in which it is delivered by the provider as useful, effective, or beneficial.	Satisfaction, Patient
D017063	Outcome Assessment, Health Care	Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).	Assessment, Outcome,Outcome Assessment,Outcome Assessment (Health Care),Outcomes Research,Assessment, Outcomes,Outcome Measures,Outcome Studies,Outcomes Assessment,Assessment, Outcome (Health Care),Assessments, Outcome,Assessments, Outcome (Health Care),Assessments, Outcomes,Measure, Outcome,Measures, Outcome,Outcome Assessments,Outcome Assessments (Health Care),Outcome Measure,Outcome Study,Outcomes Assessments,Research, Outcomes,Studies, Outcome,Study, Outcome