The Mediating Effects of Sleep Quality and Fatigue on Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Among Intensive Care Unit...

This study examines the impact of sleep quality in patients during the first week after transfer from the intensive care unit on post-intensive care syndrome, as well as the mediating role of fatigue levels.

A cross-sectional design was employed in a hospital in southern Taiwan.

One hundred twenty-six intensive care unit survivors were included in the analysis. The outcome measures included a post-intensive care syndrome scale, the Brief Fatigue Inventory-Taiwan, and a 10-point analogue scale for sleep quality. Statistical and hierarchical linear regression methods were used.

The mean score for post-intensive care syndrome was 19.9 (SD = 7.6). The mean score for fatigue levels was 40.4 (SD = 15.5), with 93.7% of participants reporting severe fatigue and significant life interference. The mean score for sleep quality was 5.1 (SD = 3.3). The findings indicated that fatigue was a significant predictor of post-intensive care syndrome, accounting for 78.4% of the variances. Furthermore, fatigue served as a complete mediator in the primary relationship examined in this study.

Study results demonstrate that intensive care survivors experience post-intensive care syndrome, which is negatively correlated with sleep quality and positively correlated with fatigue.