QUALITY-OF-LIFE 6 MONTHS AFTER INTENSIVE-CARE - RESULTS OF A PROSPECTIVE MULTICENTER STUDY USING A GENERIC HEALTH-STATUS SCALE AND A SATISFACTION SCALE

Objective: To assess the quality of life of intensive care survivors 6 months after discharge. Design: Multicenter prospective study. Settin g: Medical-surgical intensive care units (ICUs) of four French univers ity hospitals. Patients: Among the 589 patients admitted to the four I CUs between 1 January and 31 March 1989, 329 were investigated. Measur ements and results: A generic scale assessing health-related quality o f life, the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), a satisfaction scale, the Perceived Quality of Life scale (PQOL) and a questionnaire on profess ional status were sent by mail 6 months after discharge. Data concerni ng age, severity of acute illness (assessed by the Simplified Acute Ph ysiology Score) and main diagnosis were recorded. A total of 223 quest ionnaires (67.8 %) were analysable. The professional status remained u nchanged in 79.7 % of the patients, despite a significant (p < 0.01) i ncrease (15.3 vs 22.1 %) in sick leave. Quality of life, assessed with NHP, was fair (50(th) percentile = 0.73 on a 0 to 1 scale), whereas s atisfaction measured by PQOL was lower (50(th) percentile = 0.61). Bot h scales correlated well (z = 9.853; p = 0.0001) but with a large disp ersion. The NHP scale showed a severe reduction in energy, sleep and e motional reactions, whereas social isolation, pain and physical handic ap were infrequent. Family support was rated with the PQOL score as ve ry good, whereas dissatisfaction concerning recreational and professio nal activities was expressed. Subsequent sick leave was associated wit h a poor quality of life (p < 0.05). Quality of life was mainly a func tion of the diagnosis, not of age and severity of illness: patients ad mitted for suicide attempt or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease fa red poorly. Conclusions: Quality of life measured with a health-relate d quality of life scale and a satisfaction scale 6 months after an ICU stay depended on the admission diagnosis. Different dimensions of qua lity of life were variably affected.