Survival, morbidity, and quality of life after discharge from intensive care

OBJECTIVETo assess survival, morbidity (physical and psychological), quality of life (QOL), and employment status of intensive care survivors up to 12 months after discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU). DESIGNProspective study. SETTINGUniversity hospital adult ICU. PATIENTSBetween August 1, 1995, and July 31, 1996, 370 patients were admitted. Of these patients, 29% died in the ICU. Three months after discharge from the ICU, 227 patients were alive, and 143 agreed to participate. Cumulative mortality was calculated using the original complete cohort. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTSDemographic data, severity of acute illness (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation [APACHE] II), admitting specialty, primary diagnosis, and length of stay were recorded. Physical and ICU-related psychological morbidity (Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale score) were recorded. Health-related QOL was assessed using the Short-Form 36. All the questionnaires were completed in the clinic at 3 months. Assessment of physical morbidity and employment status at 6 and 12 months were conducted by telephone. The cumulative mortality was 39% at 3 months, 41% at 6 months, and 43% at 12 months. Deaths after 3 months occurred in the group who refused follow-up. The median age for the follow-up group was 51 yrs; the gender split was 68 women and 75 men; the mean admission APACHE II score was 18.79 (sd 6.15); and the median length of ICU stay was 3.8 days.At 3 months, ∼80% of all patients interviewed were satisfied with their QOL. Older men (>65 yrs) and younger women (