Zhou YT, et al. - In this retrospective cohort study, researchers examined the incidence and the most common causes of critical illness and the corresponding early mortality rates among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) from the general population of Shuyang County in northern China. Data were obtained from January 2014 to December 2015 for critically ill patients (aged over 15 years) who were admitted to a general ICU in Shuyang County in northern China. Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) were the most common causes of critical illness in the ICU. During the first 7 days in the ICU, SICH was the most common cause of death, followed by TBI. Compared to younger patients, older patients had a significantly higher risk of death from TBI, heart failure/cardiovascular crisis, cerebral infarction, and respiratory failure.