title: Health-related quality of life scores after intensive care are almost equal to those of the normal population: a multicenter observational study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients treated in intensive care has been reported to be lower compared with age- and sex-adjusted control groups. Our aim was to test whether stratifying for coexisting conditions would reduce observed differences in HRQoL between patients treated in the ICU and a control group from the normal population. We also wanted to characterize the ICU patients with the lowest HRQoL within these strata.
  
  
  METHODS
  We did a cross-sectional comparison of scores of the short-form health survey (SF-36) questionnaire in a multicenter study of patients treated in the ICU (n = 780) and those from a local public health survey (n = 6,093). Analyses were in both groups adjusted for age and sex, and data stratified for coexisting conditions. Within each stratum, patients with low scores (below -2 SD of the control group) were identified and characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment, there were minor and insignificant differences in mean SF-36 scores between patients and controls. Eight (n = 18) and 22% (n = 51) of the patients had low scores (-2 SD of the control group) in the physical and mental dimensions of SF-36, respectively. Patients with low scores were usually male, single, on sick leave before admission to critical care, and survived a shorter time after being in ICU.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After adjusting for age, sex, and coexisting conditions, mean HRQoL scores were almost equal in patients and controls. Up to 22% (n = 51) of the patients had, however, a poor quality of life as compared with the controls (-2 SD). This group, which more often consisted of single men, individuals who were on sick leave before admission to the ICU, had an increased mortality after ICU. This group should be a target for future support.
authors.forename: Lotti
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Orwelius
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fredrikson
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kristenson
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Walther
authors.forename: Folke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sjöberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden