Memories following physical trauma in patients treated in the ICU: does gender and head injury make a difference?

The aim of this study was to explore differences between male and female survivors and describe the relation between head injury and memories in men and women. This multi-centre study included 239 trauma patients who answered a self-administered questionnaire (ICUM tool) 6-18 months after discharge from the ICU. Few gender differences were found regarding their memories before, during and after the ICU stay. The univariate and multivariate analyses showed that more women than men reported memories from the time in hospital before being admitted to the ICU. Women also recalled a significantly higher number of memories of feelings than men. Furthermore, patients without head injury had more memories from the time before and during their stay in the ICU than patients with head injury but did not report more memories from the time after the ICU. The ISS mean score was higher for men than for women, more men than women had renal failure and more men than women received opioid treatment. The conclusion is that gender is of less importance concerning memories from the time before, during and after the stay in the ICU.