[Stressful environmental events in the Intensive Care Unit].

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Psychology
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are highly specialized environments that can induce significant stress and anxiety in patients.
• This psychological distress is often linked to the development of delirium, also known as acute confusional syndrome.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and describe the environmental stressors perceived by patients within an ICU setting.
• To differentiate the stressful experiences between ICU patients who developed delirium and those who did not.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, cross-sectional study incorporating a qualitative component.
• Interviews were conducted with 91 patients (33 with delirium, 58 without), using Ballard's Environmental Stressful Events scale and open-ended questions.
• Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze patient characteristics and questionnaire item frequencies.

Main Results:

• The most frequently reported stressful events included thirst (62.6%), sleep deprivation (42.9%), presence of tubes (35.2%), and lack of time awareness (34.1%).
• Patients diagnosed with delirium identified disorientation and hallucinations as significant stressors.

Conclusions:

• Consistent with prior research, patients without delirium primarily identified unmet physical needs as the most stressful ICU events.
• Understanding these distinct stressors can inform targeted interventions to mitigate patient distress and prevent delirium in ICUs.