Abstract
BACKGROUND: The gender differences in patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation are not understood. We investigated the effects of gender differences in terms of age, causes of respiratory failure, discharge status, successful weaning, mortality rate and long-term survival outcomes in patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation. METHODS: We conducted a six-year retrospective study of patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. Survival curves for all patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation and those who were very old (aged ≥ 80 years) were compared based on gender. RESULTS: Among the 574 patients enrolled. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female patients regarding successful weaning, ventilator dependence, or in-hospital mortality. We gathered long-term follow-up data on 296 patients, including 70 very old male patients and 41 very old female patients. The 6-month, 3-year, and 5-year mortality rates for the 189 male patients were 75.1%, 85.2%, and 89.9%, respectively; the corresponding rates for the 107 female patients were 66.4%, 86.0%, and 88.8%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups regarding mortality rates. The five-year survival curve of male patients was similar to that of female patients. The 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year mortality rates for the 70 very old male patients were 90.0%, 95.7%, and 97.1%, respectively; the corresponding rates for the 41 very old female patients were 63.4%, 90.2%, and 95.1%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between very old male and very old female patients in the 6-month mortality rate and the five-year survival curve. CONCLUSION: There were no gender differences in weaning status, ventilator dependence, in-hospital mortality, or survival outcomes among patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. Among very old patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation, the risk of death was 34% lower in very old female patients than in very old male patients for a period of five years.