Post-intensive care unit depression among critical care survivors: A nationwide population-based study

To investigate the incidence of post-intensive care unit (ICU) depression and its risk factors among critical care survivors.

The study data were extracted from the database of the National Health Insurance Service of Korea. We retrospectively analyzed data from 161,977 adult patients who were admitted to the ICU for more than 24 hr from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014 and survived for more than 1 year after discharge. Risk factors for newly diagnosed depression (Code F32) were analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis.

The incidence of post-ICU depression was 18.5%. The major risk factors were enteral nutrition (odds ratio [OR] = 2.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.19-2.36), cerebrovascular disease (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.54-1.64), and hemi/paraplegia (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.41-1.56). It was observed that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.50-0.61) and myocardial infarction (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.71-0.79) lowered depression.

The incidence of post-ICU depression was high and influenced by ICU treatment and physical impairments. Healthcare providers must pay attention to the psychological changes in survivors with major risk factors in the recovery process.