• Marion Douplat, Hélène Masbou, Karim Tazarourte, Julien Berthiller, Véronique Potinet, Pierre Le Coz, Anne-Marie Schott, and Laurent Jacquin.
• Service d'Accueil des Urgences, Hôpital Lyon Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon.
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2020 Oct 1; 27 (5): 338-343.

ObjectiveThe aim of our study was to assess anxiety and depression in patients' relatives after a decision of withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments.MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational multicenter study in three university hospitals' emergency departments. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was assessed on the relatives of patients admitted in emergency departments 3 days and 21 days after the decision of withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments.ResultsAmong the 109 patients with a decision of withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments, 88 relatives were included and 74 (67, 8%) completed the 21-day follow up. Among those, 14 (18.9%) and 13 (17.6%) displayed symptoms of anxiety and depression at 3 days, respectively. After 21 days, symptoms anxiety and depression were still present in the same way for nine (12.2%) of the relatives. The median total HADS score was 13.5 [interquartile range (IQR): 8-16] at 3 days and 10 [IQR: 5-17] at 21 days. The symptoms of depression at 21 days were more frequent for the relatives of patients who died at 21 days (P = 0.03).ConclusionWe found symptoms of anxiety and depression in relatives after decisions of withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments in emergency departments, which persist at 21 days. Further studies are needed to support these results and to search the relatives at risk to develop these symptoms.

4 keywords...

hide…