Recognizing and Predicting Depression in Post-ICU Patients: A Descriptive Literature Review

Abstract

Depression is a common condition that critically ill survivors experience. The symptoms of depression occur in about 29% of survivors within three to six and twelve months after intensive care unit discharge. Symptoms such as psychological distress, anxiety, stress, and anger are associated with post-ICU depression. This study aim was to first acknowledge the risk factor of depression in intensive care unit survivors and then investigate what kind of nursing practice can assist health care providers to prevent depression when taking care of post-ICU patients.

A descriptive literature review was conducted utilizing ten articles from the databases, CINAHL and PubMed. The selected articles were examined using the principle of the inductive content analysis method. The findings of these descriptive literature review provided reliable answers to the study questions.

The general risk factors related to post-ICU depression were found to be trauma, history of major depression, acute stress, history of psychiatric conditions, length of hospital stay, and length of ICU stay. The nursing practices considered useful in preventing depression in post intensive care unit patients were ICU diaries, psychological treatments, brief screening instruments, psychological interventions, good social support and patient-centered care.

The conclusion obtained from the study reveal that can be utilized to develop a patient-centered and holistic perspective of a patient in critical care, enabling health care practitioners to pay more attention to caring, interaction and communication.