Quality of life after prolonged intensive care

Objective: To assess the subjective health status, quality of life, and fun ctional ability of patients whose intensive care stay was prolonged and to compare their quality of life with that of the general population. Design: Inception cohort study. Setting: Twenty-three-bed multidisciplinary intensive care unit (ICU) in a tertiary care center. Patients: A consecutive sample of 718 patients aged greater than or equal t o 18 yrs who required intensive care greater than or equal to 4 days. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: The Nottingham Health Profile was used to co mpare the ICU patients with a random sample (n = 2,595) of the general popu lation. The quality of life and functional ability of 368 respondents (78.3 % of 470 survivors) were assessed at 6 months after ICU admission. The leng th of the ICU stay was 13.6 +/- 11.8 (median, 9; maximum, 81) days. The qua lity of life and its various dimensions were influenced by the diagnosis fo r ICU admission and age. Although problems in physical mobility and energy were prevalent among all patient groups, only a small proportion was depend ent on others for the management of daily activities. Patients with trauma or respiratory failure experienced the most limitations. The quality of lif e of elderly patients and patients who had undergone cardiac surgery was co mparable with the general population regarding emotional reactions, social isolation, and pain, Conclusions: The quality of life of survivors after a prolonged intensive c are stay is fairly good, although not comparable with that of the general p opulation. The psychosocial aspects of the quality of life are restored mor e rapidly than physical performance.