Psychometric assessment of the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit questionnaire in the United Kingdom

Cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Chilean-Spanish version of the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit - 24 questionnaire

OBJECTIVE

To adapt and validate the Spanish version of the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit - 24 (FS ICU-24) questionnaire among relatives of critically ill patients in a teaching hospital in Chile.

DESIGN

Prospective observational study aimed to validate a measuring instrument.

SETTING

Medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) of a teaching hospital in Chile.

PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS

Two hundred and forty relatives of critically ill patients with at least48 h in the ICU, older than 18 years, and with at least one visit to the patient.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MAIN VARIABLES OF INTEREST

Content validity, construct validity, and reliability analysis of the Spanish version of the FS ICU-24 were evaluated.

RESULTS

The Spanish version of the FS ICU-24 was adapted, improving its understanding and clarity. The factor analysis showed an optimal solution of 3 factors for the Chilean-Spanish version of the FS ICU-24, which explain 51% of the total variance. Reliability was adequate for the global scale (α = 0.93) and the dimensions of satisfaction with patient and family care (α = 0.82), satisfaction with communication (α = 0.91) and satisfaction with decision-making (α = 0.71).

CONCLUSIONS

The Chilean-Spanish version of the FS ICU-24 proved to be valid and reliable for the evaluation of family satisfaction in the ICU. Having a valid instrument will allow health institutions to accurately identify areas for improvement in the care of the family members and the critically ill patient.

Psychological distress, social support, and family satisfaction among family members of non-COVID-19 critical care patients: A cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

This study aims to explore the associations among psychological distress, perceived social support, and family satisfaction among family members of non-COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Family members of patients with at least 48 h in the ICU and without a COVID-19 diagnosis were screened between January and March 2021. For enrolled ICU family members, five questionnaires for perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), anxiety symptoms (General Anxiety Disorder-7), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), perceived social support (Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey), and family satisfaction (Family Satisfaction with Care in the Intensive Care Unit-24) were administered by phone either in English or Spanish language. Sociodemographic and patient clinical data were also collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, Mann-Whitney U, and Fisher's exact tests.

FINDINGS

Of 87 eligible ICU family members, 63 were enrolled (72.4%); 27% of the sample presented with clinically significant symptoms of anxiety, 25.4% with depression, and 76.2% had a high perception of social support. ICU family members with low/fair perceived social support reported statistically significantly higher perceived stress and lower family satisfaction. Perceived stress was negatively correlated with family satisfaction. Clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression were not statistically associated with family satisfaction or perceived social support.

CONCLUSIONS

While ICU admission-related stress may undermine family satisfaction, perceived social support may be positively associated with the way that ICU family members of non-COVID-19 patients evaluate the quality of care in the ICU. Knowing the factors that influence family satisfaction in the ICU may assist stakeholders and policy developers to improve family-centered care in the hospital setting.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Early screening for psychological distress and social support levels during admission should be included in updates of visiting and communication policies in the ICU. Prompt identification of family members at risk of a poor ICU experience may enhance efforts to support them, particularly in acute care settings where differentiated approaches to COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 ICU family members are established.

Family Satisfaction in the Adult Intensive Care Unit: A Concept Analysis

Admission of patients to an intensive care unit is often a stressful event for family members. In the context of patient- and family-centered care, family satisfaction is recognized as a quality indicator of intensive care unit care. However, family satisfaction has not been consistently used or conceptualized in the literature. A modified version of Walker and Avant's method for concept analysis was utilized to examine the concept of family satisfaction in the adult intensive care unit. Antecedents, attributes, consequences, and empirical referents of family satisfaction are presented and implications for practice, research, and policy.

Associations between Family Satisfaction with End-of-Life Care and Chart-Derived, Process-Based Quality Indicators in Intensive Care Units

Background/Objective: Evidence linking process-based, high-quality end-of-life (EOL) care indicators to family satisfaction with EOL care in intensive care units (ICUs) remains limited. This study aimed to fill this gap. Design/Setting/Subjects/Measures/Statistical Analysis: For this exploratory, prospective, longitudinal observational study, 278 family members were consecutively recruited from medical ICUs at two medical centers in Taiwan. Family satisfaction with ICU care was surveyed in the first month after patient death using the Family Satisfaction in the ICU questionnaire (FS-ICU). Associations between FS-ICU scores and process-based quality indicators collected over the patient's ICU stay were examined using generalized estimating equations. Results: Documentation of process-based indicators of high-quality EOL care was generally associated with higher scores for both the FS-ICU Care and FS-ICU Decision-Making domains. Higher family satisfaction with ICU care was significantly associated with physician-family prognostic communication (β [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 3.558 [2.963 to 4.154]), a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order in place at death (23.095 [17.410 to 28.779]), and death without cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (13.325 [11.685 to 14.965]). Family members' satisfaction with decision making was positively associated with documentation of social worker involvement (4.767 [0.663 to 8.872]), a DNR order issued (10.499 [0.223 to 20.776]), and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) before death (2.252 [1.834 to 2.670]). Conclusions: EOL care processes are associated with family satisfaction with EOL care in ICUs. Bereaved family members' satisfaction with EOL care in ICUs may be improved by promoting physician-family prognostic communication and psychosocial support, facilitating a DNR order and death without CPR, and withdrawing LSTs for patients dying in ICUs.

An Assessment of Clinical and System Drivers of Family Satisfaction in the PICU

OBJECTIVE

Investigate clinical and system drivers of family satisfaction in the PICU.

DESIGN

Mixed methods qualitative and quantitative (observational) study. Qualitative interviews with families were performed as a pilot to inform modality of survey distribution based on family preferences. A validated pediatric satisfaction survey deployed to family members for 7 months with a corresponding chart review and administrative data collection.

SETTING

PICU in a tertiary children's hospital.

PATIENTS

Two hundred six families of patients admitted to the PICU more than 48 hours.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Families preferred surveys distributed electronically on a tablet in the PICU setting. The Pediatric Family Satisfaction-ICU survey was used to assess comfort with medical decision-making and communication with the care team. Capture rate of all eligible patients was 69.5% and response rate was 90.8%. Overall, 64.7% of respondents were highly satisfied, whereas over one third were not highly satisfied; families of Hispanic ethnicity (odds ratio of lower satisfaction of families with Hispanic ethnicity: 2.09; 95% CI, 1.01-4.33; p = 0.047) and high social stressors (odds ratio of higher satisfaction among high stressed subgroup: 0.49; 95% CI, 0.24-0.99; p = 0.047) reported statistically significant lower satisfaction. Additional free-text responses were identified in 21% of respondents, with the majority of comments indicating wishes for improvements clustered around communication with the medical team or sleeping environment of families and patients.

CONCLUSIONS

High capture rates of family satisfaction in the PICU can be obtained with a PICU-specific survey, limiting barriers to completion by including family preferences, and distributing in the PICU setting. Less than two-third of PICU families are highly satisfied; patients of Hispanic ethnicity and those with high social stressors predict low satisfaction, whereas illness severity, age, and PICU length of stay did not have statistical significance. Local improvement teams can use this approach to drive enhanced satisfaction.

Surrogate Satisfaction with Decision Making After Intracerebral Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE

Surrogate decision makers for patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are frequently asked to make difficult decisions on use of life-sustaining treatments. We explored ICH surrogate satisfaction with decision making and experience of decision regret using validated measures in a prospective multicenter study.

METHODS

Cases of non-traumatic ICH were enrolled from three hospitals (September 2015-December 2016), and surrogate decision makers were invited to complete a self-administered survey. The primary outcome was the 10-item decision-making subscale of the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit scale (FSICU-DM, range 0-100, higher is greater satisfaction), and the secondary outcome was the decision regret scale (range 0-100, higher is greater regret). Linear regression models were used to assess the association between satisfaction with decision making and pre-specified covariates using manual backward selection.

RESULTS

A total of 73 surrogates were approached for participation (in person or mail), with 48 surrogates returning a completed survey (median surrogate age 60.5 years, 63% female, 77% white). Patients had a median age of 72.5, 54% were female, with a median admission Glasgow coma scale of 10, in-hospital mortality of 31%, and 56% with an in-hospital DNR order. Physicians commonly made treatment recommendation (> 50%) regarding brain surgery or transitions to comfort measures, but rarely made recommendations (< 20%) regarding DNR orders. Surrogate satisfaction with decision making was generally high (median FSICU-DM 85, IQR 57.5-95). Factors associated with higher satisfaction on multivariable analysis included greater use of shared decision making (P < 0.0001), younger patient age (p = 0.02), ICH score of 3 or higher (p = 0.03), and surrogate relationship (spouse vs. other, p = 0.02). Timing of DNR orders was not associated with satisfaction (P > 0.25). Decision regret scores were generally low (median 12.5, IQR 0-31.3).

CONCLUSIONS

Considering the severity and abruptness of ICH, it is reassuring that surrogate satisfaction with decision making was generally high and regret was generally low. However, more work is needed to define the appropriate outcome measures and optimal methods of recruitment for studies of surrogate decision makers of ICH patients.

Effect of preoperative education and ICU tour on patient and family satisfaction and anxiety in the intensive care unit after elective cardiac surgery: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Preoperative education may help participants to psychologically prepare themselves for surgery, but the outcomes of such preparation have rarely been assessed in patients requiring postoperative care in the intensive care unit (ICU) as well as in family members.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of a preoperative multifaceted education intervention on patient and family satisfaction levels in the ICU and measures of perioperative patients' anxiety and depression.

TRIAL DESIGN

Single-centre, two-armed, parallel, superiority, randomised controlled trial. Healthcare professionals in ICU and outcome assessor were blinded to treatment allocation.

PARTICIPANTS

100 elective coronary artery bypass grafting±valve surgery patients and their family members.

INTERVENTIONS

Preoperative education comprising of a video and ICU tour in addition to standard care (treatment), versus standard care (control).

OUTCOMES

Patient and family satisfaction levels with ICU using validated PS-ICU23 and FS-ICU24 questionnaires (0-100), respectively; change in perioperative anxiety and depression scores between 1 day presurgery and 3 days postsurgery.

RESULTS

Among 100 (50 treatment, 50 control) patients and 98 (49 treatment, 49 control) family members, 94 (48 treatment, 46 control) patients and 94 (47 treatment, 47 control) family members completed the trial. Preoperative education was associated with higher overall patient (mean difference (MD) 6.7, 95% CI 0.2 to 13.2) and family (MD 10.0, 95% CI 3.8 to 16.3) satisfaction scores. There was a weak association between preoperative education and a reduction in patient's anxiety scores over time (MD -1.7, 95% CI -3.5 to 0.0). However, there was no evidence of a treatment effect on patient's depression scores over time (MD -0.6, 95% CI -2.3 to 1.2).

CONCLUSION

Providing comprehensive preoperative information about ICU to elective cardiac surgical patients improved patient and family satisfaction levels and may decrease patients' anxiety levels.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ChiCTR-IOR-15006971.

Can the UK 24-item family satisfaction in the intensive care unit questionnaire be used to evaluate quality improvement strategies aimed at improving family satisfaction with the ICU? A qualitative study

Background

The experiences and satisfaction of family members of patients are important indicators of healthcare quality in the intensive care unit. The family satisfaction in the intensive care unit (FS-ICU-24) questionnaire, developed in Canada and now validated in the UK, is becoming the gold standard measure to evaluate family members' satisfaction with the intensive care unit. To inform future use of the UK FS-ICU-24 to evaluate quality improvement strategies aimed at improving family satisfaction with the intensive care unit, we set out to explore the extent to which the 24-scored items and domains of the UK FS-ICU-24 reflect common suggestions and priorities for quality improvement self-reported as important to family members in the UK.

Methods

Two data sources were thematically analysed - (1) open-text responses from family members who completed the UK FS-ICU-24 in a large observational cohort study; (2) a set of quality improvement activities generated by patients, family members and staff through experience-based co-design in a mixed-methods' intensive care unit quality improvement study. Summarised themes were then mapped to the 24-scored items and domains of the UK FS-ICU-24 to assess coverage by the UK FS-ICU-24.

Results

We found a good degree of coverage between the topics and themes identified as important to family members with the 24-scored items and domains of the UK FS-ICU-24.

Conclusion

Our study confirms the face validity of the UK FS-ICU-24 and indicates that its inclusion as an outcome measure for evaluating quality improvement strategies aimed at improving family satisfaction with the intensive care unit is appropriate.

Family satisfaction with critical care in the UK: a multicentre cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To assess family satisfaction with intensive care units (ICUs) in the UK using the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit 24-item (FS-ICU-24) questionnaire, and to investigate how characteristics of patients and their family members impact on family satisfaction.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study nested within a national clinical audit database.

SETTING

Stratified, random sample of 20 adult general ICUs participating in the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre Case Mix Programme.

PARTICIPANTS

Family members of patients staying at least 24 hours in ICU were recruited between May 2013 and June 2014.

INTERVENTIONS

Consenting family members were sent a postal questionnaire 3 weeks after the patient died or was discharged from ICU. Up to four family members were recruited per patient.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Family satisfaction was measured using the FS-ICU-24 questionnaire.

MAIN RESULTS

A total of 12 346 family members of 6380 patients were recruited and 7173 (58%) family members of 4615 patients returned a completed questionnaire. Overall and domain-specific family satisfaction scores were high (mean overall family satisfaction 80, satisfaction with care 83, satisfaction with information 76 and satisfaction with decision-making 73 out of 100) but varied significantly across adult general ICUs studied and by whether the patient survived ICU. For family members of ICU survivors, characteristics of both the family member (age, ethnicity, relationship to patient (next-of-kin and/or lived with patient) and visit frequency) and the patient (acute severity of illness and receipt of invasive mechanical ventilation) were significant determinants of family satisfaction, whereas, for family members of ICU non-survivors, only patient characteristics (age, acute severity of illness and duration of stay) were significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall family satisfaction in UK adult general ICUs was high but varied significantly. Adjustment for differences in family member/patient characteristics is important to avoid falsely identifying ICUs as statistical outliers.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ISRCTN47363549.

Patient experience and reflective learning (PEARL): a mixed methods protocol for staff insight development in acute and intensive care medicine in the UK

INTRODUCTION

Patient and staff experiences are strongly influenced by attitudes and behaviours, and provide important insights into care quality. Patient and staff feedback could be used more effectively to enhance behaviours and improve care through systematic integration with techniques for reflective learning. We aim to develop a reflective learning framework and toolkit for healthcare staff to improve patient, family and staff experience.

METHODS & ANALYSIS

Local project teams including staff and patients from the acute medical units (AMUs) and intensive care units (ICUs) of three National Health Service trusts will implement two experience surveys derived from existing instruments: a continuous patient and relative survey and an annual staff survey. Survey data will be supplemented by ethnographic interviews and observations in the workplace to evaluate barriers to and facilitators of reflective learning. Using facilitated iterative co-design, local project teams will supplement survey data with their experiences of healthcare to identify events, actions, activities and interventions which promote personal insight and empathy through reflective learning. Outputs will be collated by the central project team to develop a reflective learning framework and toolkit which will be fed back to the local groups for review, refinement and piloting. The development process will be mapped to a conceptual theory of reflective learning which combines psychological and pedagogical theories of learning, alongside theories of behaviour change based on capability, opportunity and motivation influencing behaviour. The output will be a locally-adaptable workplace-based toolkit providing guidance on using reflective learning to incorporate patient and staff experience in routine clinical activities.

ETHICS & DISSEMINATION

The PEARL project has received ethics approval from the London Brent Research Ethics Committee (REC Ref 16/LO/224). We propose a national cluster randomised step-wedge trial of the toolkit developed for large-scale evaluation of impact on patient outcomes.

Psychometric validation of the Chinese patient- and family satisfaction in the intensive care unit questionnaires

PURPOSE

To assess the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the 23-item Patient Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit (PS-ICU-23) and 24-item Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit (FS-ICU-24) questionnaires.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients (n = 243) discharged from an intensive care unit (ICU) in Hong Kong and family members (n = 237) completed the translated questionnaires. We used confirmatory factor analysis to assess the construct validity and measurement equivalence across groups (gender, mechanical ventilation, casemix, length of stay in ICU), coefficient alpha for internal consistency (reliability) and concordance correlation coefficient (ρ_c) for agreement between patients' and family members' perspective on satisfaction.

RESULTS

A three-factor model provided a better fit than the two-factor model for both PS-ICU-23 and FS-ICU-24 questionnaires. Factorial equivalence was present across groups in both questionnaires. Internal consistency was adequate for PS-ICU-23 (coefficient alpha overall domain 0.85; care subscale, 0.83; information subscale, 0.90; decision-making process subscale, 0.67) and for FS-ICU-24 (coefficient alpha overall scale 0.86; care subscale, 0.84; information subscale, 0.89; decision-making process subscale, 0.65). Overall ICU satisfaction agreement was moderate (0.40).

CONCLUSIONS

Both Chinese PS-ICU-23 and FS-ICU-24 questionnaires have sound psychometric properties but family satisfaction may not be a good proxy for patient satisfaction in ICU.