Cardiometabolic risk factors for admission to the intensive care unit

The increasing prevalence of cardiometabolic conditions like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity is a major public health concern. These conditions are linked to several complications and comorbidities associated with hospital admission, longer length of stay, and higher healthcare costs. It has been proven that cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) are tightly linked to poorer clinical outcomes and higher mortality rates. However, assessing whether their impact on intensive care unit (ICU) admission is significant is a matter of debate. Although the prevalence of CMRF in the ICU is indeed significantly higher than that of the general population, no studies have been able to establish them as independent risk factors for ICU admission outside the context of COVID-19 cases. On the other hand, CMRF increase the prevalence of life-threatening conditions like congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and many other entities that are indeed correlated with ICU admission. Nonetheless, the attributable risk for ICU admission in these cases may lie in the complications, and not the underlying CMRF properly. This review aims to analyze the evidence regarding the impact of CMRF on the rates of ICU admission to assess their utility as predictive factors for ICU hospitalization.