Abstract
Data on patterns of intensive care unit (ICU) admission including age, and severity of illness is essential in developing better strategies for resource allocation to improve outcomes. A 2-year cross-sectional study of 268 patients using a systematic random sampling and structured questionnaire obtained from the database was conducted with the aim of examining patterns of admission among patients admitted to the ICU of Addis Ababa burn emergency and trauma (AaBET) hospital. Data were entered into Epi-Info version 3.5.3 and exported to SPSS version 24 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used for association. A P-value of 0.05 at a 95% confidence interval was declared clinically significant. Of the 268 charts reviewed, 193 (73.5%) of them were men with a mean age of 32.6 years. Trauma accounted for 163 (53.4%) of admissions. Burn admission category, Glasgow coma score of 3-8, and not receiving pre-referral treatment were found to be substantially correlated with mortality in both bivariate and multivariate analysis. Trauma constituted a sizeable cause of ICU admission. Road traffic accidents of traumatic brain injuries were the major causes of admission. Developing good pre-referral care equipped with manpower and ambulance services will improve the outcome.