One-Year Outcomes in Caregivers of Critically Ill Patients

Investigators evaluated the caregivers of patients who had received mechanical ventilation for at least 7 days in an ICU. Although there was a large burden of depressive symptoms soon after discharge, the burden diminished in magnitude, in most caregivers, during the subsequent year. Unpaid caregivers (typically family or close friends) are essential to the sustainability of North American health care systems, because their unpaid labor annually accounts for $27 billion in Canada and $642 billion in the United States. 1 , 2 More than half the patients who have received prolonged mechanical ventilation during a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and have survived to discharge continue to require assistance from a caregiver 1 year after ICU discharge. 3 Although caregiver assistance can be beneficial for patients, such care may have negative consequences for caregivers, including poor health-related quality of life, 4 emotional distress, 4 – 8 a . . .