ICU admission is linked with high mortality and cost that increase as comorbidity burden worsens in people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a study involving more than 43,000 individuals.

Participants—all with AML—were hospitalized for any cause over an 8-year period ending in 2012. Investigators looked ICU admission rates and associated mortality; length of total hospital and ICU stay; and cost. Among the results:

• More than one-fourth of patients were admitted to the ICU.
• Those younger than 80 years of age had a 56% higher risk of being admitted.
• Those hospitalized in the South or at low/medium-volume hospitals had an 81% and 25% higher risk, respectively.
• Mortality odds were 16% higher in those 60 years of age and older; 18% higher in nonwhites; and 19% in those hospitalized on the West coast.
• Average hospitalization costs were ~$83,000 for ICU patients, vs ~$42,000 in non-ICU patients.
• Costs increased with each comorbidity, from ~$50,000 for patients with no comorbidities to ~$125,000 for those with 5 or more comorbidities.