Stressors in the ICU : different perceptions of patients, relatives and staff members

Introduction The high-risk critically ill are exposed to signifi cant stressors, along with diffi culties in communicating them to relatives and members of the staff . The aim of this study was to compare the perception of stressors as reported by patients (P), relatives (R) and ICU staff members (S). Methods A validated questionnaire [1] was used to quantitatively assess discomforts related to the ICU stay. Items were clustered into categories; higher scores refer to a higher stressfulness. The median (IQR) was calculated for each category. Twenty-eight high-risk critically ill at discharge, 55 relatives 48 hours after admission of their next of kin, and a total of 125 staff members (55 attending physicians, 40 nurses and 30 medical students/specialist trainees) were interviewed. Fifty-six of the staff members were used to keep patients consciously sedated as for local guidelines; the remaining used deeper levels of sedation. Nonparametric tests were used as needed. Results All stressor categories were diff erently reported by the three groups analysed: environmental (S = 17 (15 to 19), R = 15 (13 to 18), P = 10 (8 to 11), P <0.01), relationships (S = 23 (21 to 25), R = 20.5 (17 to 24.5), P = 14 (11 to 17), P <0.01), emotional (S = 25.5 (23 to 28), R = 24 (20 to 26), P = 18 (15 to 22), P <0.01), and physical (S = 35 (31 to 38), R = 33 (26.5 to 37), P = 27 (21 to 30), P