Outcomes and Health-related Quality of Life following Intensive Care Unit Stay in Barbados

To evaluate the hospital outcome and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adult patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) in Barbados.

A prospective observational study was done in the medical and surgical intensive care units of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados, to evaluate the outcomes and HRQOL in adult patients. The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) IV score was applied on admission to one hundred and fifty patients admitted to the ICUs. The HRQOL was evaluated by using Short Form 36 (SF-36) in 63 survivors, three months after ICU discharge.

There was no significant difference between medical and surgical ICUs with respect to age, gender, APACHE IV scores, 90-day mortality, and length of stay. The mean (± SD) APACHE IV score was 42.6 (± 23.7). The observed mortality was 32.7% and the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 1.85. The APACHE IV scores were significantly higher in non-survivors compared to survivors (p < 0.001). Patients with APACHE IV of > 45, and who were ventilated in the first 24 hours had the highest mortality (66%). The mean ICU length of stay was 7.2 days.

In this study, the SF-36 scores in all eight dimensions indicated that the HRQOL in the majority of the survivors was average or above average. There was a significant negative correlation between APACHE IV score and the SF-36 score.