Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in ICU Survivors After COVID-19.
Cristina Sanchez-Lorenzo, Aida Gámez-Fernández, Marta Sánchez-Zaballos and 1 others
PMID 42429090WHAT IT FOUND
106 ICU survivors had high symptom burden: 56.6% reported anxiety symptoms and 53.8% depression symptoms.
Female sex and memory problems were linked to anxiety; pain, memory problems and lower quality of life to depression.
Key findings
0156.6% of participants had anxiety symptoms and 53.8% had depression symptoms.
02After adjustment, female sex and perceived memory difficulties were independently associated with higher anxiety scores.
03After adjustment, higher pain levels and perceived memory difficulties were associated with higher depression scores, while polypharmacy and higher quality of life were associated with lower depression scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that ICU admission caused anxiety or depression. There was no control group, so it cannot say whether symptoms were higher than in people not admitted to ICU. Baseline cognitive and psychiatric status were not available, so reported memory and mental health problems cannot be separated from pre-existing conditions. Telephone interviews about experiences years after discharge may have introduced recall bias. Only 50.2% of eligible patients agreed to participate, and all came from two Spanish hospitals, so the sample may not represent other settings.
Declared interests
No funding or conflicts of interest were reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude ICU admission caused anxiety or depression. The study was cross-sectional, had no control group and lacked baseline psychological or cognitive data, so associations cannot show cause.