Annals of the American Thoracic Society
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Surrogates of critically ill patients often have inaccurate expectations about prognosis. Yet there is little research on how intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians should discuss prognosis, and existing expert opinion-based recommendations give only general guidance that has not been validated with surrogate decision makers. ⋯ Family members, clinicians, and experts identified specific communication behaviors that clinicians should use to discuss prognosis in the critical care setting. These findings extend existing opinion-based recommendations and should guide interventions to improve communication about prognosis in ICUs.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The influence of hospitalization or intensive care unit admission on declines in health-related quality of life.
Survivors of critical illness report impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after hospital discharge, but the degree to which these impairments are attributable to critical illness is unknown. ⋯ Prehospital HRQoL is a significant determinant of HRQoL after hospitalization or ICU admission. Hospitalization is associated with increased risk of impairment in HRQoL after discharge, yet the overall magnitude of this reduction is small and similar between non-ICU hospitalized and critically ill patients.