A communication strategy and brochure for relatives of patients dying in the ICU

A communication strategy and brochure for relatives of patients dying in the ICU

Lautrette A; Darmon M; Megarbane B; Joly LM; Chevret S; Adrie C; Barnoud D; Bleichner G; Bruel C; Choukroun G; Curtis JR; Fieux F; Galliot R; Garrouste-Orgeas M; Georges H; Goldgran-Toledano D; Jourdain M; Loubert G; Reignier J; Saidi F; Souweine B; Vincent F; Barnes NK; Pochard F; Schlemmer B; Azoulay E

The New England Journal Of Medicine

2007

Female; Humans; Male; Intensive Care Units; Aged; Middle Aged; Professional-Family Relations; Communication; 80 and over; bereavement; Terminally Ill/psychology; Family/psychology; ICU Decision Making; Stress Disorders; Depression/epidemiology; Pamphlets; Anxiety/epidemiology; Post-Traumatic/epidemiology/prevention & control; Visitors to Patients/psychology

BACKGROUND: There is a need for close communication with relatives of patients dying in the intensive care unit (ICU). We evaluated a format that included a proactive end-of-life conference and a brochure to see whether it could lessen the effects of bereavement. METHODS: Family members of 126 patients dying in 22 ICUs in France were randomly assigned to the intervention format or to the customary end-of-life conference. Participants were interviewed by telephone 90 days after the death with the use of the Impact of Event Scale (IES; scores range from 0, indicating no symptoms, to 75, indicating severe symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; subscale scores range from 0, indicating no distress, to 21, indicating maximum distress). RESULTS: Participants in the intervention group had longer conferences than those in the control group (median, 30 minutes [interquartile range, 19 to 45] vs. 20 minutes [interquartile range, 15 to 30]; P<0.001) and spent more of the time talking (median, 14 minutes [interquartile range, 8 to 20] vs. 5 minutes [interquartile range, 5 to 10]). On day 90, the 56 participants in the intervention group who responded to the telephone interview had a significantly lower median IES score than the 52 participants in the control group (27 vs. 39, P=0.02) and a lower prevalence of PTSD-related symptoms (45% vs. 69%, P=0.01). The median HADS score was also lower in the intervention group (11, vs. 17 in the control group; P=0.004), and symptoms of both anxiety and depression were less prevalent (anxiety, 45% vs. 67%; P=0.02; depression, 29% vs. 56%; P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Providing relatives of patients who are dying in the ICU with a brochure on bereavement and using a proactive communication strategy that includes longer conferences and more time for family members to talk may lessen the burden of bereavement. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00331877.)

2007

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