Clinics in geriatric medicine
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Long-term ventilator dependence is the need for mechanical ventilation for more than 6 h/d for more than 21 days. Long-term ventilator dependence complicates 9% to 20% of the episodes of mechanical ventilation treated in the intensive care units of acute care hospitals; it is associated with an average mortality rate of 40%. ⋯ During the past 2 decades, a profusion of care sites for patients with long-term ventilator dependence has evolved, largely as the product of the prospective payment system for health services introduced by the Health Care Financing Administration in 1983. The outcome of long-term ventilator dependence in elderly patients across this health care continuum is addressed.