Epidemiology of critically ill patients in intensive care units in Nepal: a retrospective observational study

Epidemiological data on critically ill patients is crucial for understanding resource utilisation, gaps in quality of care and for supporting surveillance of endemic or emerging diseases. We report the epidemiology of critically ill patients from 17 ICUs in Nepal using an established and standardised intensive care unit (ICU) registry. The ICU registry data is collected prospectively and includes data on case mix, severity, organ support and outcomes. We conducted a retrospective observational study with all adult (≥18 years) critically ill patients admitted to 17 ICUs in Nepal between September 2019 and September 2022. We report on case mix, treatment received, severity of illness, standardised mortality rates (SMR), discharge outcomes and ICU service activity. Descriptive statistics were used to report the findings. Ethical approval was received from Nepal Health Research Council (reference number: 4/2023P). All data contributed to the registry was de-identified prior to analysis. All findings will be made publicly available through the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) Tropical Health Network website (www.tropmedres.ac).<br>