- Poster presentation
- Open Access
Quality of life 4 months after ICU discharge
- Published: 13 March 2008
Keywords
- Adult Patient
- Young Patient
- Emergency Medicine
- Demographic Data
- Illness Severity
Introduction
Assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) has been recommended and used in the ICU, particularly in subpopulations of ICU survivors [1]. We assessed the HRQOL of general ICU survivors at 4 months post discharge and investigated any correlation with age, illness severity and hospital or ICU length of stay (LOS).
Methods
Following ethical approval, from November 2004 to October 2005 all adult patients admitted for level 3 care for longer than 48 hours to a 16-bed university hospital general ICU were identified. Those surviving to 4 months post ICU discharge were sent a questionnaire that included the SF-36 to complete. Standard outcome and demographic data were also collected.
Results
(abstract P507)
Discriminator | Age (years) | APACHE II score | ICU LOS | Hospital LOS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mental summary component | Mean below median value | 39.32* | 44.04 | 42.12 | 44.99 |
Mean above median value | 46.78 | 42.21 | 44.07 | 41.28 | |
Physical summary component | Mean below median value | 35.04 | 35.85 | 36.08 | 39.31* |
Mean above median value | 36.36 | 35.60 | 35.35 | 32.22 |
Conclusion
At 4 months after ICU discharge, the more elderly have significantly higher psychological HRQOL as compared with younger patients. Prolonged hospital LOS is associated with a persisting significant reduction in the physical domains of HRQOL.
Authors’ Affiliations
References
- Angus DC, Carlet J: Surviving intensive care: a report from the 2002 Brussels Roundtable. Intensive Care Med 2003, 29: 368-377.PubMedGoogle Scholar
Copyright
This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd.
