Deprived children 'more likely to die after ICU admission'

Minority ethnic children and children from deprived backgrounds across the UK are more likely to die following admission to intensive care than their white and more affluent counterparts, a study has found.

- Tobi Thomas

These children consistently had worse outcomes following their stay in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), the research by academics at Imperial College London found.

The study showed they were more likely to arrive at intensive care severely ill, more likely to die after admission, and more likely to stay longer or be readmitted unexpectedly after discharge.

The report, published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, looked at 14 years of UK-wide data between 2008 and 2021, commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, on more than 160,000 critically ill children aged 15 and younger.