Beyond Functional Outcomes: Exploring Quality of Life After Critical Illness - A Qualitative Study.

IF 7.7 1区医学 Q1 CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

Critical Care Medicine Pub Date : 2025-03-31 DOI:10.1097/CCM.0000000000006665

Lucy L Porter, Koen Wijntjes, Koen S Simons, Mark van den Boogaard, José A E Custers, Marieke Zegers

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives: After ICU admission, the quality of life (QoL) of ICU survivors is often significantly lower compared to their peers. However, recent studies showed that this impaired QoL cannot be fully explained by the physical, mental, and cognitive problems post-ICU, alluding to other determinants of QoL. Therefore, we aimed to explore ICU survivors' experienced QoL 1-2 years post-ICU, focusing on factors beyond functional outcomes.

Design: Qualitative interview study.

Setting: Seven hospitals in the Netherlands.

Patients: ICU survivors aged greater than or equal to 16 years admitted to the ICU between July 2022 and January 2023.

Interventions: None.

Measurements and main results: ICU patients were purposively sampled. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed according to the principles of thematic content analysis. All interviews were coded independently by two researchers and participant recruitment was continued until no new themes were identified. Twenty-four semistructured interviews were performed between March and June 2024. The interviews resulted in 28 categories, from which seven main themes emerged regarding patients' experienced QoL: functional impairments (e.g., physical problems), participation (e.g., independence, work), support (e.g., informal care), environment (e.g., financial resources, personal circumstances), individual values (e.g., perspective on life, religion), comparison (e.g., expectations, reference), and coping (e.g., adaptation, acceptance). Patients described how these themes affected their QoL, both positively and negatively.

Conclusions: This study shows that perceived QoL after critical illness is impacted not only by patients' functional impairments but also by participation, support, environment, individual values, comparison, and coping. The themes identified in this study stress the importance of considering patients' individual and context factors to provide optimal post-ICU support.

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来源期刊

Critical Care Medicine 医学-危重病医学

CiteScore

16.30

自引率

5.70%

发文量

728

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Critical Care Medicine is the premier peer-reviewed, scientific publication in critical care medicine. Directed to those specialists who treat patients in the ICU and CCU, including chest physicians, surgeons, pediatricians, pharmacists/pharmacologists, anesthesiologists, critical care nurses, and other healthcare professionals, Critical Care Medicine covers all aspects of acute and emergency care for the critically ill or injured patient. Each issue presents critical care practitioners with clinical breakthroughs that lead to better patient care, the latest news on promising research, and advances in equipment and techniques.