Current Census of Oncology Critical Care Medicine in China

Abstract Objective The purposes of this survey were to show the current situation of oncology critical care medicine in China, to understand the resource distribution of oncology critical care medicine, and to analyze and evaluate the existing resources and reserve capacity of oncology critical care medicine.Methods A general survey was conducted at the 36 member units of the Oncology Critical Care Medicine Committee of the Chinese Anti-cancer Association through e-mailed questionnaires. The census takers filled out the questionnaires with feedback. The survey covered 8 items: basic information on the hospital, basic profile of the ICU, personnel allocation, management status, technical skills, patient sources, equipment configuration and tumor- related treatment technology.Results The survey results involved information from 28 member units, all of which are tertiary hospitals, distributed in 20 provinces and 4 direct-controlled municipalities. The results are as follows. (1) The total ratio of ICU beds to hospital beds was 1.06%, and the average number of ICU beds was 16.36. (2) The ratio of ICU physicians to beds was approximately 0.62:1, and the ratio of nurses to beds was approximately 1.98:1. (3) According to the census of the population and GDP of different regions conducted by the State Statistics Bureau in 2017, the ratio of ICU beds for tumor patients to population was 4.55 beds per 10 million people, and the ratio of ICU beds to GDP was 8.00 beds per RMB 100 billion, on average. (4) The equipment configuration is relatively perfect, while the technical skills need to be improved.Conclusion The development of oncology critical care is becoming better, but there is still a certain gap compared with the ICU standards in China and the average level of the national ICU. It is urgent to develop oncology critical care medicine.