Gender differences in psychological morbidity and treatment in intensive care survivors--a cohort study

Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome Among Intensive Care Unit Survivors in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Objective To quantify the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among ICU survivors in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia, and explore the correlational relationships among these conditions to inform targeted mental health interventions in this unique regional context. Methods The study employed a cross-sectional observational design to assess ICU survivors from two major hospitals in the Jazan Region: Prince Mohammed Bin Nasser Hospital and King Fahad Central Hospital. One hundred participants were interviewed face-to-face to gather detailed insights into their post-ICU experiences. We employed the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and the post-trauma symptom scale (PTSS-10) to systematically assess the psychological impacts of anxiety, depression, and PTSD among participants. Results The demographic breakdown of participants showed a youthful skew, with 37% under 35 years, 49% aged between 36-60 years, and only 14% over 60 years, contrasting with typical ICU demographics, which generally skew older. This younger distribution may influence the psychological outcomes observed. The sample was fairly gender-balanced, with 53% male and 47% female, closely reflecting the regional gender ratio of ICU admissions. Among the participants, 24% were classified as 'abnormal' and 20% as 'borderline abnormal' for anxiety, while 25% were 'borderline abnormal' and 21% 'abnormal' for depression. About 8% of participants were diagnosed with severe PTSD. Anxiety was more strongly correlated with PTSD than depression. The analysis demonstrated significant associations between demographic factors and psychological distress among ICU survivors. Females reported higher anxiety, while lower education and unemployment were associated with increased depression. Additionally, lower household income was associated with higher PTSS scores, and marital status was linked to depression, suggesting that socioeconomic factors play a critical role in post-ICU psychological recovery. Conclusion The findings emphasize the imperative need for comprehensive mental health evaluations and tailored interventions for ICU survivors in the Jazan region.

Patients' Self-Reported Recovery After an Environmental Intervention Aimed to Support Patient's Circadian Rhythm in Intensive Care

BACKGROUND

Patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are among the most vulnerable, and they require support to start their recovery. The design of the patient area in the ICU can play a prominent role in both the quality of care and patients' recovery. The lighting environment has the opportunity to restore and strengthen the natural human circadian rhythm and health.

AIM

To evaluate patients' self-reported recovery after being cared for in an ICU room rebuilt according to evidence-based design principles that promote recovery.

METHOD

An intervention was set up in a two-bed patient room including a cycled lighting system. Self-reported recovery was reported at 6 and 12 months after discharge. Data were analyzed using a 2(mechanically ventilated, nonmechanically ventilated) × 2(intervention room, ordinary room) analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and 2(male, women) × 2(intervention room, ordinary room) ANCOVA.

RESULTS

Data from the different rooms showed no significant main effects for recovery after 6 months, p = .21; however, after 12 months, it become significant, p. < .05. This indicated that patient recovery was positively influenced for patients cared for in the intervention room (M = 8.88, SD = 4.07) compared to the ordinary room (M = 10.90, SD = 4.26). There were no interaction effects for gender or if the patients had been mechanically ventilated either at 6 or 12 months' postdischarge.

CONCLUSIONS

A cycled lighting system may improve patient self-reported recovery after ICU care; however, more research on the topic is needed.

Factors and health-related quality of life associated with participation in a post-ICU follow-up. A register study

BACKGROUND

Follow-up for heterogeneous intensive care patients presents challenges for rehabilitation interventions and outcome measurements. The aim was to describe and explore characteristics and determinants for visiting/not visiting a nurse-led clinic (NLC) at different time-points, and to describe physical and mental health (HRQoL) over time.

METHODS

Patients with a length of stay (LOS) of ≥72 hours, discharged from a general intensive care unit 2004-2014, who participated in a 6-month follow-up programme offering visits to NLC at 2 and 6 months were included. The register study includes information regarding patients' participation in NLC, clinical and demographic data from the Patient Administrative System within Intensive care, and data on 2-, 6- and 12-month HRQoL by using SF-36 from the Swedish Intensive Care Registry.

RESULTS

Of 656 patients, 57% visited the NLC on some occasion. These patients were younger (P = .000), had lower Simplified Acute Physiology scores (P = .001) and higher SF-36 physical health domain scores at 2 months (P < .05) compared to those not visiting at all. Visitors at 2 months only were younger, had shorter LOS and higher physical and mental domain scores than patients visiting at 6 months only. Patients visiting the NLC scored significantly higher in all domains from 2 to 12 months, whereas non-visiting-patients' did this in four out of eight domains during the same time frame.

CONCLUSION

Individual patient's characteristics and current health conditions seem to influence visits to NLC or not. The findings may contribute to the development of existing routines to match the diversity of patients' needs and life situations.

Effect of Nurse-Led Consultations on Post-Traumatic Stress and Sense of Coherence in Discharged ICU Patients With Clinically Relevant Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms-A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the effect of nurse-led consultations on reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms and increasing sense of coherence in discharged ICU patients with clinically relevant post-traumatic stress symptoms and to identify variables associated with symptoms 12 months later.

DESIGN

A pragmatic nonblinded randomized controlled trial.

SETTINGS

Five surgical and medical ICUs at Oslo University Hospital.

PATIENTS

Adult patients treated in the ICU greater than or equal to 24 hours were screened with Post-Traumatic Stress Scale 10 intensive part B after ICU discharge. Those scoring greater than or equal to 25 were included in the study.

INTERVENTION

Patients randomized to intervention group were offered three nurse-led consultations within 2 months, and patients in the control group received standard care.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Sense of Coherence Scale 13 and Post-Traumatic Stress Scale 10 intensive part B were completed after inclusion, and reevaluated after 3, 6, and 12 months. Linear mixed model for repeated measures and linear regression analyses were performed. Among 523 screened patients, 111 and 113 were randomized to intervention group and control group, respectively. Mean Post-Traumatic Stress Scale 10 intensive part B score was 37 (±10) before randomization. No differences in post-traumatic stress symptoms or sense of coherence were found between intervention group versus control group, with a mean Post-Traumatic Stress Scale 10 intensive part B score 39 (95% CI, 37-41) versus 37 (95% CI, 35-39), 32 (95% CI, 28-35) versus 32 (95% CI, 29-35), 31 (95% CI, 28-34) versus 30 (95% CI, 27-33), and 31 (95% CI, 28-34) versus 29 (95% CI, 26-33) at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. There was a significantly reduced Post-Traumatic Stress Scale 10 intensive part B score for both groups during the year (p = 0.001). Low sense of coherence, pain, and previous psychiatric problems were associated with increased level of post-traumatic stress symptoms at 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse-led consultations did not reveal any significant effect on post-traumatic stress symptoms or sense of coherence after ICU discharge in patients with clinically relevant symptoms.

Approaches to Addressing Post-Intensive Care Syndrome among Intensive Care Unit Survivors. A Narrative Review

Critical illness can be lethal and devastating to survivors. Improvements in acute care have increased the number of intensive care unit (ICU) survivors. These survivors confront a range of new or worsened health states that collectively are commonly denominated post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). These problems include physical, cognitive, psychological, and existential aspects, among others. Burgeoning interest in improving long-term outcomes for ICU survivors has driven an array of potential interventions to improve outcomes associated with PICS. To date, the most promising interventions appear to relate to very early physical rehabilitation. Late interventions within aftercare and recovery clinics have yielded mixed results, although experience in heart failure programs suggests the possibility that very early case management interventions may help improve intermediate-term outcomes, including mortality and hospital readmission. Predictive models have tended to underperform, complicating study design and clinical referral. The complexity of the health states associated with PICS suggests that careful and rigorous evaluation of multidisciplinary, multimodality interventions-tied to the specific conditions of interest-will be required to address these important problems.

Gender Differences Regarding the Impact of Change in Cognitive Function on the Functional Status of Intensive Care Unit Survivors: A Prospective Cohort Study

PURPOSE

This study aimed to identify gender differences with regard to the impact of change in cognitive function on functional status 3 months after receiving critical care.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This prospective cohort study investigated 152 intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Their functional status and cognitive function were assessed using the validated Korean version of the Modified Barthel Index and Mini-Mental State Examination, respectively. Hierarchical regression was used to evaluate the impact of change in cognitive function on functional status in ICU survivors by gender.

FINDINGS

The proportion of women suffering from consistent cognitive impairment was significantly higher than that of men. Women had a rate of improvement to normal cognitive function within 3 months after discharge that was higher than that of men. Functional status 3 months after discharge was significantly lower for patients whose cognitive impairment was consistent than that for those whose cognitive function was normal. The impact of change in cognitive function on men (R² change = .28) was greater than that on women (R² change = .13).

CONCLUSIONS

Persistent cognitive impairment after critical illness had a negative effect on functional status in ICU survivors. Importantly, the negative impact of consistent cognitive impairment was greater in men than in women.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Early careful assessment of functional and cognitive status after critical illness is warranted. Strategies addressing the gender-specific characteristics related to cognitive improvement should also be developed.

Preventing Posttraumatic Stress in ICU Survivors: A Single-Center Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of ICU Diaries and Psychoeducation

OBJECTIVES

Critical illness can have a significant psychological impact on patients and their families. To inform the design of a larger trial, we assessed feasibility of ICU diaries and psychoeducation to prevent posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety following ICU stays.

DESIGN

Four-arm pilot randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

A 10-bed tertiary ICU in Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

PATIENTS

Critically ill patients greater than 17 years old with predicted ICU stays greater than 72 hours and mechanical ventilation duration greater than 24 hours.

INTERVENTIONS

Patients were randomized to usual care, ICU diary, psychoeducation, or both ICU diary and psychoeducation.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Our primary objective was to determine feasibility measured by enrollment/mo. Secondary outcomes included acceptability of the ICU diary intervention and psychological distress, including patients' memories 1 week post ICU using the ICU Memory Tool, posttraumatic stress disorder (Impact of Events Scale-Revised), depression, and anxiety symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) 30 and 90 days post ICU. Over 3.5 years, we enrolled 58 patients, an average of 1.9 participants/mo. Families and healthcare providers wrote a mean of 3.2 diary entries/d (SD, 2.9) and indicated positive attitudes and low perceived burden toward ICU diary participation. A majority of patients reported distressing memories of their ICU stay. Those who received the diary intervention had significantly lower median Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety (3.0 [interquartile range, 2-6.25] vs 8.0 [interquartile range, 7-10]; p = 0.01) and depression (3.0 [interquartile range, 1.75-5.25] vs 5.0 [interquartile range, 4-9]; p = 0.04) symptom scores at 90 days than patients who did not receive a diary.

CONCLUSIONS

ICU diaries are a feasible intervention in a tertiary Canadian ICU context. Preliminary evidence supports the efficacy of ICU diaries to reduce psychological morbidity following discharge.

Post-traumatic stress symptoms and sense of coherence in proximity to intensive care unit discharge

BACKGROUND

Post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms following intensive care unit (ICU) treatment can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder and represent a severe health burden. In trauma patients, a strong sense of coherence (SOC) is associated with fewer PTS symptoms. However, this association has not been investigated in a general ICU sample.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To examine the occurrence of PTS symptoms in general ICU patients early after ICU discharge and to assess possible associations between PTS symptoms and SOC, ICU memory, pain, and demographic and clinical characteristics.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Adult patients aged ≥18 years admitted for ≥24 hours to five ICUs between 2014 and 2016 were recruited. PTS symptoms and SOC were measured at the ward within the first week after discharge from the ICU using the Posttraumatic Stress Scale-10 and Sense of Coherence Scale-13. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify associations between PTS symptoms and SOC and the selected independent variables.

RESULTS

A total of 523 patients were included (17.8% trauma patients; median age 57 years [range 18-94]; 53.3% male). The prevalence of clinically significant PTS symptoms was 32%. After adjustments for gender and age, lower SOC (P < 0.001), more ICU delusional memories (P < 0.001), greater pain interference (P < 0.001), not being a trauma patient (P = 0.02), and younger age (P = 0.03) were significantly associated with more PTS symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

One third of patients experienced clinically relevant PTS symptoms early after discharge from the ICU. In the present study, SOC, delusional memory, pain interference, younger age, and not being a trauma patient were factors associated with more PTS symptoms.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Early individual follow up after ICU discharge focusing on pain relief and delusional memory may reduce PTS symptoms, with a potential of improving rehabilitation.

Factors associated with impaired physical functioning and mental health in working-age patients attending a post-intensive care follow-up clinic three months after hospital discharge

Patients recovering from critical illness are often suffering from remarkable limitations in their everyday life. The purpose of this study was to find factors associated with poor physical functioning and mental health after critical illness. The study was conducted among patients who met the inclusion criteria of our post-intensive care unit follow-up clinic. The patients were invited to the follow-up clinic three months after hospital discharge. The participants filled out a RAND-36 questionnaire, underwent a clinical examination and were stratified to those with good or poor recovery according to physical functioning and emotional wellbeing. Altogether 332 out of 351 follow-up clinic attendees had data available for analysis. In physical functioning 40% of patients achieved a poor outcome. In mental health the percentage was 8%. The patients with poor physical functioning had a longer hospital stay and were more likely to have received vasopressors. Eleven out of 16 (69%) multitrauma patients had poor physical functioning. Patients with poor physical functioning had more memories of pain, achieved worse results in a six-minute walk test and were less likely to be able to move independently. The patients with poor mental health had higher delirium incidence and fewer memories of relatives' visits and of nurses. The conclusions of this study were that the memories of pain, multitrauma and longer hospital stay were associated with a poor physical functioning outcome. Delirium and a lack of memories of relatives and nurses were associated with a poor mental health outcome.

Development of an ICU discharge instrument predicting psychological morbidity: a multinational study

Purpose

To develop an instrument for use at ICU discharge for prediction of psychological problems in ICU survivors.

Methods

Multinational, prospective cohort study in ten general ICUs in secondary and tertiary care hospitals in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Adult patients with an ICU stay ≥ 12 h were eligible for inclusion. Patients in need of neurointensive care, with documented cognitive impairment, unable to communicate in the local language, without a home address or with more than one limitation of therapy were excluded. Primary outcome was psychological morbidity 3 months after ICU discharge, defined as Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) subscale score ≥ 11 or Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms Checklist-14 (PTSS-14) part B score > 45.

Results

A total of 572 patients were included and 78% of patients alive at follow-up responded to questionnaires. Twenty percent were classified as having psychological problems post-ICU. Of 18 potential risk factors, four were included in the final prediction model after multivariable logistic regression analysis: symptoms of depression [odds ratio (OR) 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10–1.50], traumatic memories (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.13–1.82), lack of social support (OR 3.28, 95% CI 1.47–7.32) and age (age-dependent OR, peak risk at age 49–65 years). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) for the instrument was 0.76 (95% CI 0.70–0.81).

Conclusions

We developed an instrument to predict individual patients’ risk for psychological problems 3 months post-ICU, http://www.imm.ki.se/biostatistics/calculators/psychmorb/. The instrument can be used for triage of patients for psychological ICU follow-up.

Trial registration

The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02679157.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s00134-018-5467-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Follow-up services for improving long-term outcomes in intensive care unit (ICU) survivors

BACKGROUND

The intensive care unit (ICU) stay has been linked with a number of physical and psychological sequelae, known collectively as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Specific ICU follow-up services are relatively recent developments in health systems, and may have the potential to address PICS through targeting unmet health needs arising from the experience of the ICU stay. There is currently no single accepted model of follow-up service and current aftercare programmes encompass a variety of interventions and materials. There is uncertain evidence about whether follow-up services effectively address PICS, and this review assesses this.

OBJECTIVES

Our main objective was to assess the effectiveness of follow-up services for ICU survivors that aim to identify and address unmet health needs related to the ICU period. We aimed to assess effectiveness in relation to health-related quality of life (HRQoL), mortality, depression and anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), physical function, cognitive function, ability to return to work or education and adverse effects.Our secondary objectives were to examine different models of follow-up services. We aimed to explore: the effectiveness of service organisation (physician- versus nurse-led, face-to-face versus remote, timing of follow-up service); differences related to country (high-income versus low- and middle-income countries); and effect of delirium, which can subsequently affect cognitive function, and the effect of follow-up services may differ for these participants.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL on 7 November 2017. We searched clinical trials registers for ongoing studies, and conducted backward and forward citation searching of relevant articles.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised and non-randomised studies with adult participants, who had been discharged from hospital following an ICU stay. We included studies that compared an ICU follow-up service using a structured programme and co-ordinated by a healthcare professional versus no follow-up service or standard care.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently assessed studies for inclusion, extracted data, assessed risk of bias, and synthesised findings. We used the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of the evidence.

MAIN RESULTS

We included five studies (four randomised studies; one non-randomised study), for a total of 1707 participants who were ICU survivors with a range of illness severities and conditions. Follow-up services were led by nurses in four studies or a multidisciplinary team in one study. They included face-to-face consultations at home or in a clinic, or telephone consultations or both. Each study included at least one consultation (weekly, monthly, or six-monthly), and two studies had up to eight consultations. Although the design of follow-up service consultations differed in each study, we noted that each service included assessment of participants' needs with referrals to specialist support if required.It was not feasible to blind healthcare professionals or participants to the intervention and we did not know whether this may have introduced performance bias. We noted baseline differences (two studies), and services included additional resources (two studies), which may have influenced results, and one non-randomised study had high risk of selection bias.We did not combine data from randomised studies with data from one non-randomised study. Follow-up services for improving long-term outcomes in ICU survivors may make little or no difference to HRQoL at 12 months (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.1 to 0.1; 1 study; 286 participants; low-certainty evidence). We found moderate-certainty evidence from five studies that they probably also make little or no difference to all-cause mortality up to 12 months after ICU discharge (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.22; 4 studies; 1289 participants; and in one non-randomised study 79/259 deaths in the intervention group, and 46/151 in the control group) and low-certainty evidence from four studies that they may make little or no difference to PTSD (SMD -0.05, 95% CI -0.19 to 0.10, 703 participants, 3 studies; and one non-randomised study reported less chance of PTSD when a follow-up service was used).It is uncertain whether using a follow-up service reduces depression and anxiety (3 studies; 843 participants), physical function (4 studies; 1297 participants), cognitive function (4 studies; 1297 participants), or increases the ability to return to work or education (1 study; 386 participants), because the certainty of this evidence is very low. No studies measured adverse effects.We could not assess our secondary objectives because we found insufficient studies to justify subgroup analysis.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

We found insufficient evidence, from a limited number of studies, to determine whether ICU follow-up services are effective in identifying and addressing the unmet health needs of ICU survivors. We found five ongoing studies which are not included in this review; these ongoing studies may increase our certainty in the effect in future updates. Because of limited data, we were unable to explore whether one design of follow-up service is preferable to another, or whether a service is more effective for some people than others, and we anticipate that future studies may also vary in design. We propose that future studies are designed with robust methods (for example randomised studies are preferable) and consider only one variable (the follow-up service) compared to standard care; this would increase confidence that the effect is due to the follow-up service rather than concomitant therapies.

Early psychological screening of intensive care unit survivors: a prospective cohort study

Background

A majority of patients survive their episode of critical illness but up to 30% of patients suffer from psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression in the year after intensive care unit (ICU) stay. A method to identify discharged patients at risk for adverse psychological outcome would be helpful in the triage for ICU follow-up and could enable early intervention. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether early screening with validated questionnaires after ICU discharge can identify patients at risk for symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression 3 months after ICU stay.

Methods

We performed a prospective observational cohort study in the general ICU at the Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Stockholm, Sweden. All adult patients surviving ≥ 24 hours in the ICU in a 9-month period were eligible for inclusion. Patients with mental disability, serious auditory and visual disorder, aphasia or who were unable to understand Swedish were excluded. One hundred and thirty-two patients were included and visited by a follow-up nurse within 1 week after ICU discharge. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Checklist-10 (PTSS-10) were administered. Three months after ICU discharge the patients received the same questionnaires by postal mail. We assessed the predictive values of the questionnaires using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). For correlation calculations, we used Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Negative and positive predictive values for each questionnaire were calculated.

Results

Eighty-two patients returned the follow-up questionnaires. We found correlation between early and late scores and reasonable predictive precision regarding 3-month outcomes, with an AUROC of 0.90 for PTSS-10 part B, 0.80 for the HADS anxiety subscale and 0.75 for the HADS depression subscale.

Conclusions

Symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression assessed 1 week after ICU stay correlate with 3-month psychological outcome. The HADS and PTSS-10 may be useful aids to identify ICU survivors at high risk for clinically significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression 3 months post ICU stay.

A Retrospective, Pilot Study of De Novo Antidepressant Medication Initiation in Intensive Care Unit Patients and Post-ICU Depression

Post-ICU Syndromes (PICS) remain a devastating problem for intensive care unit (ICU) survivors. It is currently unknown if de novo initiation of an antidepressant medication during ICU stay decreases the prevalence of post-ICU depression. We performed a retrospective, pilot study evaluating patients who had not previously been on an antidepressant medication and who were started on an antidepressant while in the trauma surgical, cardiothoracic, or medical intensive care unit (ICU). The PHQ-2 depression scale was used to ascertain the presence of depression after ICU discharge and compared this to historical controls. Of 2,988 patients admitted to the ICU, 69 patients had de novo initiation of an antidepressant medication and 27 patients were alive and available for study inclusion. We found the prevalence of depression in these patients to be 26%, which is not statistically different than the prevalence of post-ICU depression in historical controls [95% CI (27.6%, 51.6%)]. De novo initiation of an antidepressant medication did not substantially decrease the prevalence of post-ICU depression in this retrospective, pilot study.

Depressive Symptoms After Critical Illness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVES

To synthesize data on prevalence, natural history, risk factors, and post-ICU interventions for depressive symptoms in ICU survivors.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry (1970-2015).

STUDY SELECTION

Studies measuring depression after hospital discharge using a validated instrument in more than 20 adults from non-specialty ICUs.

DATA EXTRACTION

Duplicate independent review and data abstraction.

DATA SYNTHESIS

The search identified 27,334 titles, with 42 eligible articles on 38 unique studies (n = 4,113). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression subscale was used most commonly (58%). The pooled Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression subscale prevalence (95% CI) of depressive symptoms at a threshold score greater than or equal to 8 was 29% (22-36%) at 2-3 months (12 studies; n = 1,078), 34% (24-43%) at 6 months (seven studies; n = 760), and 29% (23-34%) at 12-14 months (six studies; n = 1,041). The prevalence of suprathreshold depressive symptoms (compatible with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression subscale, ≥ 8) across all studies, using all instruments, was between 29% and 30% at all three time points. The pooled change in prevalence (95% CI) from 2-3 to 6 months (four studies; n = 387) was 5% (-1% to +12%), and from 6 to 12 months (three studies; n = 412) was 1% (-6% to +7%). Risk factors included pre-ICU psychologic morbidity and presence of in-ICU psychologic distress symptoms. We did not identify any post-ICU intervention with strong evidence of improvement in depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinically important depressive symptoms occurred in approximately one-third of ICU survivors and were persistent through 12-month follow-up. Greater research into treatment is needed for this common and persistent post-ICU morbidity.

Anxiety symptoms in survivors of critical illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the epidemiology of and postintensive care unit (ICU) interventions for anxiety symptoms after critical illness.

METHODS

We searched five databases (1970-2015) to identify studies assessing anxiety symptoms in adult ICU survivors. Data from studies using the most common assessment instrument were meta-analyzed.

RESULTS

We identified 27 studies (2880 patients) among 27,334 citations. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A) subscale was the most common instrument (81% of studies). We pooled data at 2-3, 6 and 12-14month time-points, with anxiety symptom prevalences [HADS-A≥8, 95% confidence interval (CI)] of 32%(27-38%), 40%(33-46%) and 34%(25-42%), respectively. In a subset of studies with repeated assessments in the exact same patients, there was no significant change in anxiety score or prevalence over time. Age, gender, severity of illness, diagnosis and length of stay were not associated with anxiety symptoms. Psychiatric symptoms during admission and memories of in-ICU delusional experiences were potential risk factors. Physical rehabilitation and ICU diaries had potential benefit.

CONCLUSIONS

One third of ICU survivors experience anxiety symptoms that are persistent during their first year of recovery. Psychiatric symptoms during admission and memories of in-ICU delusional experiences were associated with post-ICU anxiety. Physical rehabilitation and ICU diaries merit further investigation as possible interventions.

Lipodystrophy among HIV-infected patients: a cross-sectional study on impact on quality of life and mental health disorders

Background

Lipodystrophy (LD) is a frequent adverse event of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) and occurs mainly in patients exposed to first-generation antiretroviral drugs. The aim of this study was to explore and measure the interaction between LD, mental health, and quality of life of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive individuals seen in a metabolic clinic.

Methods

We conducted a single-site cross-sectional study including all HIV-infected patients attending the LIPO group and metabolism day clinic at the University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland between January 31, 2008 and November 28, 2013. Data on LD were prospectively collected using the HIV Outpatient Study (HOPS) score, the Lipodystrophy Case Definition (LDCD), ART regimens, anthropometric measures, imaging, and standardized questionnaires. Quality of life was evaluated using a visual analog scale of 0–100. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory scales, respectively.

Results

One hundred ninety-four patients (54.6% male; 45.4% female; median age, 50 years) on successful ART (median CD4 cell count, 569.0 cells/mm³; median viral load, 20 copies/mL) were evaluated. Among these, 62.7, 63.5 and 35.5% of patients reported at least one body site affected by fat hypertrophy, atrophy or both, respectively. Using the LDCD score conservative definition, including imaging and biological values, 57.8% were diagnosed with LD. Of these, 39.7% suffered from severe/very severe LD. Depression was reported by 35.6% of individuals; 51.9% had anxiety symptoms and 49.5% reported poor quality of life (defined as being inferior to 50% on a scale from 0 to 100%). LD (odds ratio (OR = 5.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07–25.37, p-value: 0.040), depression (OR = 4.67, 95% CI 1.08–20.31, p-value 0.040), and anxiety (OR = 7.83, 95% CI 1.91–32.03, p-value 0.004) all affected significantly the quality of life.

Conclusions

LD, depression and anxiety were frequent features among HIV-infected individuals seen in the metabolic clinic and significantly impacted on their quality of life.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12981-015-0061-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association between male sex and increased mortality after falls

OBJECTIVES

Whether sex affects the mortality of trauma patients remains unknown. The hypothesis of this study was that sex was associated with altered mortality rates in trauma.

METHODS

A retrospective review of trauma patients' records in the Japan Trauma Data Bank was conducted (n = 80,813) from 185 major emergency hospitals across Japan. The primary outcome variable was in-hospital mortality within 28 days. Secondary outcome variables included serious injuries to different body regions with an Abbreviated Injury Scale of ≥3.

RESULTS

In the analysis of 80,813 trauma patients, males had significantly greater 28-day mortality compared to females (adjusted p = 0.0072, odds ratio [OR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06 to 1.23) via logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, mechanism, Injury Severity Score, Revised Trauma Score, and potential preexisting risk factors. Of 10 injury categories examined, sex significantly affected in-hospital 28-day mortality rate in falls (adjusted p < 0.0001, OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.19 to 1.52). Further analysis of three fall subcategories by falling distance revealed that male patients who fell from ground level had significantly higher 28-day mortality (adjusted p < 0.0001, OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.43 to 2.14) and a significantly greater frequency of serious injury to the head, thorax, abdomen, and spine, but a lower frequency of serious injury to the extremities, compared to female patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to female trauma patients, male trauma patients had greater 28-day mortality. In particular, ground-level falls had a significant sex difference in mortality, with serious injury to different body regions. Sex differences appeared to be important for fatalities from ground-level falls.

After critical care: patient support after critical care. A mixed method longitudinal study using email interviews and questionnaires

PURPOSE

To explore experiences and needs over time, of patients discharged from ICU using the Intensive Care Experience (ICE-q) questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and EuroQoL (EQ-5D), associated clinical predictors (APACHE II, TISS, Length of stay, RIKER scores) and in-depth email interviewing.

METHODS

A mixed-method, longitudinal study of patients with >48hour ICU stays at 2 weeks, 6 months, 12 months using the ICE-q, HADS, EQ-5D triangulated with clinical predictors, including age, gender, length of stay (ICU and hospital), APACHE II and TISS. In-depth qualitative email interviews were completed at 1 month and 6 months. Grounded Theory analysis was applied to interview data and data were triangulated with questionnaire and clinical data.

RESULTS

Data was collected from January 2010 to March 2012 from 77 participants. Both mean EQ-5D visual analogue scale, utility scores and HADS scores improved from 2 weeks to 6 months, (p=<0.001; p=<0.001), but between 6 and 12 months, no change was found in data from either questionnaire, suggesting improvements level off. These variations were reflected in qualitative data themes: rehabilitation/recovery in the context of chronic illness; impact of critical care; emotional and psychological needs (including sub-themes of: information needs and relocation anxiety). The overarching, core theme related to adjustment of normality.

CONCLUSIONS

Patient recovery in this population appears to be shaped by ongoing illness and treatment. Email interviews offer a convenient method of gaining in-depth interview data and could be used as part of ICU follow-up.

Rehabilitation activities, out-patient visits and employment in patients and partners the first year after ICU: a descriptive study

OBJECTIVES

To describe the influence of critical illness on patients and their partners in relation to rehabilitation, healthcare consumption and employment during the first year after Intensive Care Unit discharge.

DESIGN

Longitudinal, observational and descriptive.

SETTING

Five Danish Intensive Care Units.

METHODS

Data were collected from hospital charts, population registers and interviews with 18 patients and their partners at 3 and 12 months after intensive care discharge. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed.

RESULTS

Post-discharge inpatient rehabilitation was median (range) 52 (15-174) days (n=10). Community-based training was 12 (3-34) weeks (n=15). Neuropsychological rehabilitation following brain damage was 13-20 weeks (n=3). Number of out-patient visits 1 year before and 1 year after were mean 3 versus 8, and General Practitioner visits were 12 versus 18. Three patients resumed work at pre-hospitalisation employment rates after 12 months. After the patients' stay in intensive care, partners' mean full-time sick leave was 17 (range 0-124) days and 21 (range 0-106) days part time. Partners often had long commutes.

CONCLUSION

Most patients had comprehensive recovery needs requiring months of rehabilitation. Some partners needed extensive sick leave. The study reveals the human cost of critical illness and intensive care for patients and partners in the Danish welfare system.

Year in review 2012: Critical Care--management

Outcomes research plays a key role in defining the effects of medical care in critical care. Last year Critical Care published a number of papers that evaluated patient-centered and policy-relevant outcomes. We present this review article focusing on key reported outcomes associated with severe community-acquired pneumonia, mortality associated with decisions regarding triage to the ICU, and both short-term and long-term mortality associated with ICU admissions. We further analyze the literature, assessing outcomes such as quality of life and the psychological burden associated with critical care. We also reviewed processes of care, and studies looking at cost analysis of treatment associated with critical care.

Developing an early screening instrument for predicting psychological morbidity after critical illness

Introduction

Guidelines recommend follow-up for patients after an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Methods for identifying patients with psychological problems after intensive care would be of value, to optimize treatment and to improve adequate resource allocation in ICU follow-up of ICU survivors. The aim of the study was to develop a predictive screening instrument, for use at ICU discharge, to identify patients at risk for post-traumatic stress, anxiety or depression.

Methods

Twenty-one potential risk factors for psychological problems - patient characteristics and ICU-related variables - were prospectively collected at ICU discharge. Two months after ICU discharge 252 ICU survivors received the questionnaires Post-Traumatic Stress Symptom scale -10 (PTSS-10) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to estimate the degree of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression.

Results

Of the 150 responders, 46 patients (31%) had adverse psychological outcome, defined as PTSS-10 >35 and/or HADS subscales ≥8. After analysis, six predictors were included in the screening instrument: major pre-existing disease, being a parent to children younger than 18 years of age, previous psychological problems, in-ICU agitation, being unemployed or on sick-leave at ICU admission and appearing depressed in the ICU. The total risk score was related to the probability for adverse psychological outcome in the individual patient. The predictive accuracy of the screening instrument, as assessed with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, was 0.77. When categorizing patients in three risk probability groups - low (0 to 29%), moderate (30 to 59%) high risk (60 to 100%), the actual prevalence of adverse psychological outcome in respective groups was 12%, 50% and 63%.

Conclusion

The screening instrument developed in this study may aid ICU clinicians in identifying patients at risk for adverse psychological outcome two months after critical illness. Prior to wider clinical use, external validation is needed.