Introduction:
Quality of life and patients survival are important parameters in the assessment of an ICU. The term health related quality of life constitutes nowadays one of the main objectives of health professionals. Aim of this study was to evaluate a) the mortality during the hospital stay and after hospital discharge and b) the quality of life of ICU patients six months to one year after their ICU discharge.
Methods:
Design: This is a prospective cohort study. Setting: Intensive care unit (ICU) General Hospital Papageorgiou, Thessaloniki, Greece. Patients: Of all patients discharged over one year period, 303 were considered eligible. Measurements: Patients were interviewed over the phone six months to one year after ICU discharge using the Euro Quol 5-D questionnaire.
Results:
The overall hospital mortality was 35,3%. A statistical significance was found between deceased and alive patients regarding age (63±16 vs 55±18) and ICU stay (8±10 vs 11±10 days), where the first group of patients respectively had better survival, but not in the APACHE score (AS) on admission, where patients with AS 17±3 versus 16±2. However, a statistical significance was not found in hospitalization days: 12±28 versus 14±13 and in time of death in hospital 19±5 and at home 0±5.
Conclusions:
The in hospital mortality of ICU patients remains very high. On the contrary, mortality after hospital discharge is low. Health related quality of life six months after ICU discharge seems to be satisfactory and continues to improve at one year.
Key words: Quality of life, intensive care, EQ-5D Questionnaire
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