Returning home after intensive care: a comparison of symptoms of anxiety and depression in ICU and elective cardiac surgery patients and their relatives.
OBJECTIVE
This study gathered data on symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients and relatives after discharge from intensive care and examined whether the intensive care population differ from an elective cardiac surgery group with regards to their anxiety and depression symptom reporting.


METHODS
A single measurement point matched group comparison study in an ICU follow-up programme.


METHODS
Twenty ICU patients and their relatives and a matched comparison group of 15 elective cardiac surgery patients and their relatives.


RESULTS
Patients and relatives completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Relatives answered an open question to explore the perceived impact of Intensive care/cardiac surgery on their lives. ICU patients' relatives reported significantly higher number of symptoms of anxiety than did ICU patients, higher number of symptoms of depression than cardiac surgery patients' relatives, and more troubling and life-altering experiences than the relatives of cardiac surgery patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Relatives of ICU patients also suffer anxiety and depression, and services should address this need. Group differences suggest that ICU patients' relatives have "unique" characteristics of depression symptom reporting.
Young
Ellen
E
Department of Behavioural Medicine, Hope Hospital, Clinical Sciences Building, Stott Lane, Salford, Manchester M6 8HD, UK. ellen.young@srht.nhs.uk
Eddleston
Jane
J
Ingleby
Sarah
S
Streets
Janice
J
McJanet
Lucy
L
Wang
Michael
M
Glover
Lesley
L
D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D015995:Prevalence; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology