An increasing number of patients require prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV), which is associated with high morbidity and poor long-term survival, but there are few data regarding the incidence and outcome of PMV patients from a community perspective.

We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of adult Olmsted county, Minnesota, residents admitted to the intensive care units at the 2 Mayo Clinic Rochester hospitals from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2007, who underwent tracheostomy for PMV.

Sixty-five patients, median age 68 years (interquartile range [IQR] 49-80 y), 39 male, underwent tracheostomy for PMV, resulting in an age-adjusted incidence of 13 (95% CI 10-17) per 100,000 patient-years at risk. The median number of days on mechanical ventilation was 24 days (IQR 18-37 d). Forty-six patients (71%) survived to hospital discharge, and 36 (55%) were alive at 1-year follow-up. After adjusting for age and baseline severity of illness, the presence of COPD was independently associated with 1-year mortality (hazard ratio 3.4, 95% CI 1.4-8.2%).

There was a considerable incidence of tracheostomy for PMV. The presence of COPD was an independent predictor of 1-year mortality.