Limited family members/staff communication in intensive care units in the Czech and Slovak Republics considerably increases anxiety in patients ́ relatives – the DEPRESS study

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Vladimir Cerny¹  Katerina Rusinova²  Jiri Simek³  Jaromir Kukal⁴ 

[1] Department of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada;Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, University hospital in Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic;Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic;Institute for Medical Humanities, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic;Department of Philosophy and Ethics in Helping Professions, Faculty of Health and Social studies, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic;Department of Software Engineering in Economy, Faculty of Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University, Prague, Czech Republic;

关键词: Central European Country;    East European Country;    Limited Family;    Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System;    Staff Communication;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-14-21

 received in 2012-06-01, accepted in 2013-12-06,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSymptoms of anxiety and depression are common among family members of ICU patients and are culturally dependent. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression and associated factors in family members of ICU patients in two Central European countries.MethodsWe conducted a prospective multicenter study involving 22 ICUs (250 beds) in the Czech and Slovak Republics. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to assess symptoms of anxiety and depression in family members of ICU patients. Family member understanding of the patient’s condition was assessed using a structured interview and a questionnaire was used to assess satisfaction with family member/ICU staff communication.ResultsTwenty two intensive care units (both adult and pediatric) in academic medical centers and community hospitals participated in the study. During a 6 month period, 405 family members of 293 patients were enrolled. We found a high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms – 78% and 54%, respectively. Information leaflets distributed to family members did not lower incidences of anxiety/depression. Family members with symptoms of depression reported higher levels of satisfaction according to the modified Critical Care Family Needs Inventory. Extended contact between staff and family members was the only related factor associated with anxiety reduction (p = 0.001).ConclusionFamily members of ICU patients in East European countries suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression. We identified limited family member/ICU staff communication as an important health care professional-related factor associated with a higher incidence of symptoms of anxiety. This factor is potentially amenable to improvement and may serve as a target for proactive intervention proactive intervention.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Rusinová et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.