Demographic, psychosocial, and medical correlates of psychological morbidity after intensive care unit stay

BACKGROUND Psychological morbidity [post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depressive, and anxiety symptoms] and a decline in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are common after treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU). The aims of this article are: (a) to report psychological morbidity and HRQoL status three months after the ICU stay; (b) to report psychological morbidity correlates [demographic factors, social constraint (SC) regarding the ICU experience, negative ICU-related memories (NIM), and medical factors]; (c) to examine the hypothesis that SC would be a predictor of psychological morbidity after the ICU stay. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE Seventy-two Greek patients filled in the following questionnaires: the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the EuroQoL-5D-5L, and five questions regarding SC. RESULTS In total, 47% of participants had symptoms of psychological morbidity at a moderate to high level and 94% reported that they had at least a problem regarding HRQoL. Predictors of PTSD symptoms were NIM, SC, female gender, and haloperidol dose. Predictors of anxiety symptoms were SC, the reporting of another stressor after the ICU stay, and low income. Predictors of depressive symptoms were SC, remifentanil dose (negative), and the reporting of another stressor. CONCLUSIONS Participants experienced elevated levels of psychological symptoms and SC emerged as a consistent predictor of psychological morbidity three months after the ICU stay.