Resilience after severe critical illness: a prospective, multicentre, observational study (RESIREA)

Area of Science:

• Critical care medicine
• Psychotraumatology
• Health psychology

Background:

• Critical-illness survivors are at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and impaired quality of life.
• Resilience may offer psychological protection, but its role post-critical illness requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess resilience levels in critical-illness survivors.
• To examine the association between resilience, PTSD symptoms, and quality of life.
• To identify factors associated with increased resilience.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, multicentre study involving 382 patients from 41 French ICUs.
• Patients completed validated scales for resilience (CD-RISC-25), PTSD symptoms (IES-R), quality of life (SF-36), social support (MSPSS), and illness perception (B-IPQ) 3 months to 1 year post-ICU admission.
• Statistical analyses identified factors independently associated with resilience.

Main Results:

• Over half of survivors (53.1%) exhibited normal or high resilience.
• Resilient patients had significantly lower rates of moderate to severe PTSD symptoms (12.8% vs. 25.4%) and higher quality-of-life scores compared to less resilient patients.
• Higher perceived social support and a less threatening perception of illness were independently linked to greater resilience.

Conclusions:

• Resilience is associated with reduced PTSD and improved quality of life in critical-illness survivors.
• Interventions targeting social support and illness perception may bolster resilience.
• Future trials should evaluate such interventions for PTSD mitigation and quality-of-life enhancement.