The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists

Autores
Castro, Ricardo; Nin, Nicolas; Ríos, Fernando; Alegría, Leyla; Estenssoro, Elisa; Murias, Gastón; Friedman, Gilberto; Jibaja, Manuel; Ospina Tascon, Gustavo; Hurtado, Javier; Marín, María del Carmen; Machado, Flavia R.; Biasi Cavalcanti, Alexandre; Dubin, Arnaldo; Azevedo, Luciano; Cecconi, Maurizio; Bakker, Jan; Hernandez, Glenn; Latin-American Intensive Care Network (LIVEN)
Año de publicación
2018
Idioma
español castellano
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Background: Intensive care medicine is a relatively young discipline that has rapidly grown into a full-fledged medical subspecialty. Intensivists are responsible for managing an ever-increasing number of patients with complex, lifethreatening diseases. Several factors may influence their performance, including age, training, experience, workload, and socioeconomic context. The aim of this study was to examine individual- and work-related aspects of the Latin American intensivist workforce, mainly with academic appointments, which might influence the quality of care provided. In consequence, we conducted a cross-sectional study of intensivists at public and private academic and nonacademic Latin American intensive care units (ICUs) through a web-based electronic survey submitted by email. Questions about personal aspects, work-related topics, and general clinical workflow were incorporated. Results: Our study comprised 735 survey respondents (53% return rate) with the following country-specific breakdown: Brazil (29%); Argentina (19%); Chile (17%); Uruguay (12%); Ecuador (9%); Mexico (7%); Colombia (5%); and Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, and Paraguay combined (2%). Latin American intensivists were predominantly male (68%) young adults (median age, 40 [IQR, 35–48] years) with a median clinical ICU experience of 10 (IQR, 5–20) years. The median weekly workload was 60 (IQR, 47–70) h. ICU formal training was between 2 and 4 years. Only 63% of academic ICUs performed multidisciplinary rounds. Most intensivists (85%) reported adequate conditions to manage patients with septic shock in their units. Unsatisfactory conditions were attributed to insufficient technology (11%), laboratory support (5%), imaging resources (5%), and drug shortages (5%). Seventy percent of intensivists participated in research, and 54% read scientific studies regularly, whereas 32% read no more than one scientific study per month. Research grants and pharmaceutical sponsorship are unusual funding sources in Latin America. Although Latin American intensivists are mostly unsatisfied with their income (81%), only a minority (27%) considered changing to another specialty before retirement. Conclusions: Latin American intensivists constitute a predominantly young adult workforce, mostly formally trained, have a high workload, and most are interested in research. They are under important limitations owing to resource constraints and overt dissatisfaction. Latin America may be representative of other world areas with similar challenges for intensivists. Specific initiatives aimed at addressing these situations need to be devised to improve the quality of critical care delivery in Latin America.
Facultad de Ciencias Médicas
Materia
Salud
Intensive care units
Latin American
LMIC
Critical care
Health
Manpower
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/107243

id SEDICI_99e3f7d79a180fd0a31896afbd2f45ed
oai_identifier_str oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/107243
network_acronym_str SEDICI
repository_id_str 1329
network_name_str SEDICI (UNLP)
spelling The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivistsCastro, RicardoNin, NicolasRíos, FernandoAlegría, LeylaEstenssoro, ElisaMurias, GastónFriedman, GilbertoJibaja, ManuelOspina Tascon, GustavoHurtado, JavierMarín, María del CarmenMachado, Flavia R.Biasi Cavalcanti, AlexandreDubin, ArnaldoAzevedo, LucianoCecconi, MaurizioBakker, JanHernandez, GlennLatin-American Intensive Care Network (LIVEN)SaludIntensive care unitsLatin AmericanLMICCritical careHealthManpowerBackground: Intensive care medicine is a relatively young discipline that has rapidly grown into a full-fledged medical subspecialty. Intensivists are responsible for managing an ever-increasing number of patients with complex, lifethreatening diseases. Several factors may influence their performance, including age, training, experience, workload, and socioeconomic context. The aim of this study was to examine individual- and work-related aspects of the Latin American intensivist workforce, mainly with academic appointments, which might influence the quality of care provided. In consequence, we conducted a cross-sectional study of intensivists at public and private academic and nonacademic Latin American intensive care units (ICUs) through a web-based electronic survey submitted by email. Questions about personal aspects, work-related topics, and general clinical workflow were incorporated. Results: Our study comprised 735 survey respondents (53% return rate) with the following country-specific breakdown: Brazil (29%); Argentina (19%); Chile (17%); Uruguay (12%); Ecuador (9%); Mexico (7%); Colombia (5%); and Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, and Paraguay combined (2%). Latin American intensivists were predominantly male (68%) young adults (median age, 40 [IQR, 35–48] years) with a median clinical ICU experience of 10 (IQR, 5–20) years. The median weekly workload was 60 (IQR, 47–70) h. ICU formal training was between 2 and 4 years. Only 63% of academic ICUs performed multidisciplinary rounds. Most intensivists (85%) reported adequate conditions to manage patients with septic shock in their units. Unsatisfactory conditions were attributed to insufficient technology (11%), laboratory support (5%), imaging resources (5%), and drug shortages (5%). Seventy percent of intensivists participated in research, and 54% read scientific studies regularly, whereas 32% read no more than one scientific study per month. Research grants and pharmaceutical sponsorship are unusual funding sources in Latin America. Although Latin American intensivists are mostly unsatisfied with their income (81%), only a minority (27%) considered changing to another specialty before retirement. Conclusions: Latin American intensivists constitute a predominantly young adult workforce, mostly formally trained, have a high workload, and most are interested in research. They are under important limitations owing to resource constraints and overt dissatisfaction. Latin America may be representative of other world areas with similar challenges for intensivists. Specific initiatives aimed at addressing these situations need to be devised to improve the quality of critical care delivery in Latin America.Facultad de Ciencias Médicas2018info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/107243spainfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC5820791&blobtype=pdfinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1364-8535info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/29463310info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1186/s13054-018-1956-6info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:23:56Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/107243Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:23:56.892SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
title The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
spellingShingle The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
Castro, Ricardo
Salud
Intensive care units
Latin American
LMIC
Critical care
Health
Manpower
title_short The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
title_full The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
title_fullStr The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
title_full_unstemmed The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
title_sort The practice of intensive care in Latin America: a survey of academic intensivists
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Castro, Ricardo
Nin, Nicolas
Ríos, Fernando
Alegría, Leyla
Estenssoro, Elisa
Murias, Gastón
Friedman, Gilberto
Jibaja, Manuel
Ospina Tascon, Gustavo
Hurtado, Javier
Marín, María del Carmen
Machado, Flavia R.
Biasi Cavalcanti, Alexandre
Dubin, Arnaldo
Azevedo, Luciano
Cecconi, Maurizio
Bakker, Jan
Hernandez, Glenn
Latin-American Intensive Care Network (LIVEN)
author Castro, Ricardo
author_facet Castro, Ricardo
Nin, Nicolas
Ríos, Fernando
Alegría, Leyla
Estenssoro, Elisa
Murias, Gastón
Friedman, Gilberto
Jibaja, Manuel
Ospina Tascon, Gustavo
Hurtado, Javier
Marín, María del Carmen
Machado, Flavia R.
Biasi Cavalcanti, Alexandre
Dubin, Arnaldo
Azevedo, Luciano
Cecconi, Maurizio
Bakker, Jan
Hernandez, Glenn
Latin-American Intensive Care Network (LIVEN)
author_role author
author2 Nin, Nicolas
Ríos, Fernando
Alegría, Leyla
Estenssoro, Elisa
Murias, Gastón
Friedman, Gilberto
Jibaja, Manuel
Ospina Tascon, Gustavo
Hurtado, Javier
Marín, María del Carmen
Machado, Flavia R.
Biasi Cavalcanti, Alexandre
Dubin, Arnaldo
Azevedo, Luciano
Cecconi, Maurizio
Bakker, Jan
Hernandez, Glenn
Latin-American Intensive Care Network (LIVEN)
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Salud
Intensive care units
Latin American
LMIC
Critical care
Health
Manpower
topic Salud
Intensive care units
Latin American
LMIC
Critical care
Health
Manpower
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Background: Intensive care medicine is a relatively young discipline that has rapidly grown into a full-fledged medical subspecialty. Intensivists are responsible for managing an ever-increasing number of patients with complex, lifethreatening diseases. Several factors may influence their performance, including age, training, experience, workload, and socioeconomic context. The aim of this study was to examine individual- and work-related aspects of the Latin American intensivist workforce, mainly with academic appointments, which might influence the quality of care provided. In consequence, we conducted a cross-sectional study of intensivists at public and private academic and nonacademic Latin American intensive care units (ICUs) through a web-based electronic survey submitted by email. Questions about personal aspects, work-related topics, and general clinical workflow were incorporated. Results: Our study comprised 735 survey respondents (53% return rate) with the following country-specific breakdown: Brazil (29%); Argentina (19%); Chile (17%); Uruguay (12%); Ecuador (9%); Mexico (7%); Colombia (5%); and Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, and Paraguay combined (2%). Latin American intensivists were predominantly male (68%) young adults (median age, 40 [IQR, 35–48] years) with a median clinical ICU experience of 10 (IQR, 5–20) years. The median weekly workload was 60 (IQR, 47–70) h. ICU formal training was between 2 and 4 years. Only 63% of academic ICUs performed multidisciplinary rounds. Most intensivists (85%) reported adequate conditions to manage patients with septic shock in their units. Unsatisfactory conditions were attributed to insufficient technology (11%), laboratory support (5%), imaging resources (5%), and drug shortages (5%). Seventy percent of intensivists participated in research, and 54% read scientific studies regularly, whereas 32% read no more than one scientific study per month. Research grants and pharmaceutical sponsorship are unusual funding sources in Latin America. Although Latin American intensivists are mostly unsatisfied with their income (81%), only a minority (27%) considered changing to another specialty before retirement. Conclusions: Latin American intensivists constitute a predominantly young adult workforce, mostly formally trained, have a high workload, and most are interested in research. They are under important limitations owing to resource constraints and overt dissatisfaction. Latin America may be representative of other world areas with similar challenges for intensivists. Specific initiatives aimed at addressing these situations need to be devised to improve the quality of critical care delivery in Latin America.
Facultad de Ciencias Médicas
description Background: Intensive care medicine is a relatively young discipline that has rapidly grown into a full-fledged medical subspecialty. Intensivists are responsible for managing an ever-increasing number of patients with complex, lifethreatening diseases. Several factors may influence their performance, including age, training, experience, workload, and socioeconomic context. The aim of this study was to examine individual- and work-related aspects of the Latin American intensivist workforce, mainly with academic appointments, which might influence the quality of care provided. In consequence, we conducted a cross-sectional study of intensivists at public and private academic and nonacademic Latin American intensive care units (ICUs) through a web-based electronic survey submitted by email. Questions about personal aspects, work-related topics, and general clinical workflow were incorporated. Results: Our study comprised 735 survey respondents (53% return rate) with the following country-specific breakdown: Brazil (29%); Argentina (19%); Chile (17%); Uruguay (12%); Ecuador (9%); Mexico (7%); Colombia (5%); and Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, and Paraguay combined (2%). Latin American intensivists were predominantly male (68%) young adults (median age, 40 [IQR, 35–48] years) with a median clinical ICU experience of 10 (IQR, 5–20) years. The median weekly workload was 60 (IQR, 47–70) h. ICU formal training was between 2 and 4 years. Only 63% of academic ICUs performed multidisciplinary rounds. Most intensivists (85%) reported adequate conditions to manage patients with septic shock in their units. Unsatisfactory conditions were attributed to insufficient technology (11%), laboratory support (5%), imaging resources (5%), and drug shortages (5%). Seventy percent of intensivists participated in research, and 54% read scientific studies regularly, whereas 32% read no more than one scientific study per month. Research grants and pharmaceutical sponsorship are unusual funding sources in Latin America. Although Latin American intensivists are mostly unsatisfied with their income (81%), only a minority (27%) considered changing to another specialty before retirement. Conclusions: Latin American intensivists constitute a predominantly young adult workforce, mostly formally trained, have a high workload, and most are interested in research. They are under important limitations owing to resource constraints and overt dissatisfaction. Latin America may be representative of other world areas with similar challenges for intensivists. Specific initiatives aimed at addressing these situations need to be devised to improve the quality of critical care delivery in Latin America.
publishDate 2018
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2018
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Articulo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/107243
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/107243
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv spa
language spa
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC5820791&blobtype=pdf
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1364-8535
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/29463310
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1186/s13054-018-1956-6
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)
instname:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
instacron:UNLP
reponame_str SEDICI (UNLP)
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
instname_str Universidad Nacional de La Plata
instacron_str UNLP
institution UNLP
repository.name.fl_str_mv SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata
repository.mail.fl_str_mv alira@sedici.unlp.edu.ar
_version_ 1844616115977715712
score 13.070432