title: [Follow up and quality of life of patients after treatment at the intensive care unit. Report from the Intensive Care Unit of the Second Clinical Hospital in Szczecin].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Treatment of patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) always requires maximal efforts of the staff and use of extended resources to save lives and restore health. Therefore, the assessment of therapeutic efficacy at the ICU is of great value. The aim of this study was to assess follow up and the quality of life of patients after treatment at the Intensive Care Unit. We chose the Department of Intensive Care and Anesthesiology with the Acute Intoxication Unit of the Second Clinical Hospital, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who stayed at the ICU for at least 14 days in 2002-2007 were qualified and cardiac surgery patients were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 1347 patients treated during this period at the Department of Intensive Care and Anesthesiology with the Acute Intoxication Unit of the Second Clinical Hospital, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, 809 (60.1%) were discharged. The mean annual hospital mortality rate was 104. Eighty patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In this group, 32 (40%) survived until year 2010 when our study was undertaken; 26 of them (32.5%) were enrolled. The main part of the study was based on the standardized questionnaire QLQ-C30 (3.0 Polish version). Supplementary questions addressed personal data, occupation, employment status, degree of disability, and posthospital rehabilitation. An attempt was made to assess the quality of medical and nursing care at the ICU. The results were analyzed statistically with Pearson's r and Kruskal-Wallis tests for correlations and significance. Out of 26 patients (18 males and 8 females), mean age 56.4 years, mean ICU stay of 29.7 days (SD +/- 22.3 days), hospitalized for acute cardiopulmonary failure (n = 10; 38.5%), cardiac arrest (n = 9; 34.5%), multiple trauma (n = 5; 19%), and intoxication (n = 2; 8%), only 46% survived two years or more after discharge from ICU; QLQ-C30 demonstrated that their health status and quality of life was good, albeit worse than of healthy persons.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were no correlations between self--assessed health status and quality of life on one side and age, ICU duration, and time from ICU stay on the other. The diagnosis had no significant effect on self-assessment of health status and quality of life.
authors: Zakład Pielegniarstwa Chirurgicznego i Ratunkowego Pomorskiego Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Szczecinie, ul. Zołnierska 48, 70-210 Szczecin.
authors: Elzbieta
authors: E
authors: Ciesiołkiewicz
authors: Włodzimierz
authors: W
authors: Majewski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult