Table 1 Baseline characteristics by ICU triage decision

Age

64 [56–70]

63 [54–69]

66 [59–70]

65 [58–72]

63 [56–70]

0.04*

Male

499 (64%)

166 (64.3%)

44 (59.5%)

248 (64.9%)

41 (62.1%)

0.82

Solid malignancy

503 (64.7%)

163 (63.2%)

41 (55.4%)

244 (63.9%)

55 (83.3%)

0.005*

Hematological malignancy

274 (35.3%)

94 (36.4%)

33 (44.6%)

136 (35.6%)

11 (16.7%)

Both

3 (0.4%)

1 (0.4%)

2 ( 0.5%)

Metastatic solid malignancy

245 (31.4%)

75 (29.1%)

20 (27%)

108 (28.3%)

42 (63.6%)

< 0.001*

Cancer recurrence

71 (9.1%)

33 (12.8%)

5 (6.8%)

27 (7.1%)

6 (9.1%)

0.09

Uncontrolled cancer

408 (52.4%)

145 (56.2%)

33 (44.6%)

 173 (45.4%)

57 (86.4%)

< 0.001*

CCI

4 [2–6]

4 [2–6]

3 [2–6]

4 [2–6]

6 [4–7]

< 0.001*

ECOG PS before hospital

1 [1–2]

1 [1–2]

1 [1–1]

1 [0–2]

2 [1–3]

< 0.001*

 0

181 (23.2%)

54 (20.9%)

17 (23%)

108 (28.3%)

2 (3%)

 1

298 (38.2%)

93 (36%)

39 (52.7%)

148 (38.7%)

18 (27.3%)

 2

191 (24.5%)

74 (28.7%)

15 (20.3%)

81 (21.2%)

21 (31.8%)

 3

90 (11.5%)

31 (12%)

3 (4.1%)

 36 (9.4%)

20 (30.3%)

 4

15 (1.9%)

5 (1.9%)

0 (0%)

 6 (1.6%)

4 (6.1%)

 Unknown

5 (0.6%)

1 (0.4%)

0 (0%)

3 (0.8%)

1 (1.5%)

MEWS

5 [3–6]

4 [2–6]

5 [4–7]

 5 [4–7]

5 [3–6]

< 0.001*

Unknown

80 (10.3%)

14.(5.4%)

4 (5.4%)

54 (14.1%)

8 (12.1%)

Cancer treatment before ICU

684 (88%)

223 (86.8%)

65 (87.8%)

343 (90.3%)

53 (80.3%)

0.12

Unknown

3 (0.4%)

Immunocompromised

560 (71.8%)

199 (77.1%)

49 (66.2%)

265 (69.4%)

47 (71.2%)

0.13

Year ICU consult

0.20

 2016

214 (27.4%)

67 (26%)

22 (29.7%)

114 (29.8%)

11 (16.7%)

 2017

204 (26.2%)

62 (24%)

18 (24.3%)

108 (28.3%)

16 (24.2%)

 2018

222 (28.5%)

78 (30.2%)

18 (24.3%)

99 (25.9%)

27 (40.9%)

 2019

140 (17.9%)

51 (19.8%)

16 (21.6%)

61 (16%)

12 (18.2%)

Earlier ICU admission before consult

77 (9.9%)

24 (9.3%)

8 (10.8%)

45 (11.8%)

0 (0%)

0.03*

One ICU physician

318 (40.8%)

109 (42.2%)

35 (47.3%)

158 (41.4%)

16 (24.2%)

0.007*

Two ICU physicians

385 (49.4%)

130 (50.4%)

37 (50%)

176 (46.1%)

42 (63.6%)

More than two ICU physicians

77 (9.9%)

19 (7.4%)

2 (2.7%)

48 (12.6%)

8 (12.1%)

One referring physician (ref)

164 (21.2%)

59 (23%)

19 (26%)

80 (21.2%)

6 (9.1%)

< 0.001*

Two referring physicians

496 (64.2%)

175 (68.1%)

41 (56.2%)

240 (63.7%)

40 (60.6%)

More than two referring physicians

113 (14.6%)

23 (8.9%)

13 (17.8%)

57 (15.1%)

20 (30.3%)

Location consult

< 0.001*

 Emergency room (ref)

137 (17.6%)

30 (11.6%)

4 (5.4%)

81 (21.2%)

22 (33.3%)

 Ward

483 (61.9%)

197 (76.4%)

55 (74.3%)

190 (49.7%)

41 (62.1%)

 Other

160 (20.5%)

31 (12%)

15 (20.3%)

111 (29.1%)

3 (4.5%)

On-hours (ref)

315 (40.4%)

95 (36.8%)

27 (36.5%)

163 (42.7%)

30 (45.5%)

0.34

Off-hours

465(59.6%)

163 (63.2%)

47 (63.5%)

219 (57.3%)

36 (54.5%)

Weekend

244 (31.3%)

77 (29.8%)

25 (33.8%)

118 (30.9%)

24 (36.4%)

0.73

Consult reason

 Shock

150 (19.2%)

30 (11.6%)

5 (6.8%)

103 (27%)

12 (18.2%)

< 0.001*

 Respiratory insufficiency

483 (61.9%)

147 (57%)

50 (67.6%)

242 (63.4%)

44 (66.7%)

0.20

 Altered consciousness

139 (17.8%)

36 (14.0%)

7 (9.5%)

80 (20.9%)

16 (24.2%)

0.01*

 Sepsis

214 (27.4%)

47 (18.2%)

22 (29.7%)

135 (35.3%)

10 (15.2%)

< 0.001*

 Acute kidney injury

94 (12.1%)

18 (7%)

10 (13.5%)

 60 (15.7%)

6 (9.1%)

0.008*

 High MEWS

23 (2.9%)

16 (6.2%)

3 (4.1%)

2 (0.5%)

2 (3%)

0.001*

 Hemodynamic instability

280 (35.9%)

86 (33.3%)

21 (28.4%)

152 (39.8%)

21 (31.8%)

0.14

 Other

99 (12.7%)

42 (16.3%)

9 (12.2%)

36 (9.4%)

12 (18.2%)

0.05