Survivorship outcomes for critically ill patients in Australia and New Zealand: A scoping review

Impairments after critical illness, termed the post–intensive care syndrome, are an increasing focus of research in Australasia. However, this research is yet to be cohesively synthesised and/or summarised. The aim of this scoping review was to explore patient outcomes of survivorship research, identify measures, methodologies, and designs, and explore the reported findings in Australasia. Studies reporting outcomes for adult survivors of critical illness from Australia and New Zealand in the following domains: physical, functional, psychosocial, cognitive, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), discharge destination, health care use, return to work, and ongoing symptoms/complications of critical illness. The Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology framework was used. A protocol was published on the open science framework, and the search used Ovid MEDLINE, Scopus, ProQuest, and Google databases. Eligible studies were based on reports from Australia and New Zealand published in English between January 2000 and March 2022. There were 68 studies identified with a wide array of study aims, methodology, and designs. The most common study type was nonexperimental cohort studies (n = 17), followed by studies using secondary analyses of other study types (n = 13). HRQoL was the most common domain of recovery reported. Overall, the identified studies reported that impairments and activity restrictions were associated with reduced HRQoL and reduced functional status was prevalent in survivors of critical illness. About 25% of 6-month survivors reported some form of disability. Usually, by 6 to12 months after critical illness, impairments had improved. Reports of long-term outcomes for survivors of critical illness in Australia highlight that impairments and activity limitations are common and are associated with poor HRQoL. There was little New Zealand–specific research related to prevalence, impact, unmet needs, ongoing symptoms, complications from critical illness, and barriers to recovery.