Articles: critical-care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2025
Bereaved family quality of life varies with comorbid psychological distress and ICU-care quality.
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is highly endorsed, but HRQOL studies scarcely investigate the following: ICU family members; modifiable end-of-life (EOL) ICU-care factors; conjoint associations with prolonged grief disorder (PGD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression; and long-term bereavement outcomes. ⋯ Bereaved family members' HRQOL was significantly associated with PGD-PTSD-depressive-symptom states and QODD classes-both modifiable through high-quality EOL ICU care.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Ultrasound guided transcutaneous phrenic nerve stimulation in critically ill patients: a new method to evaluate diaphragmatic function.
Diaphragm dysfunction is common in intensive care unit and associated with weaning failure and mortality. The diagnosis gold standard is the transdiaphragmatic or tracheal pressure induced by magnetic phrenic nerve stimulation. However, the equipment is not commonly available and requires specific technical skills. This study aimed to evaluate ultrasound-guided transcutaneous phrenic nerve stimulation for daily bedside assessment of diaphragm function by targeted electrical phrenic nerve stimulation. ⋯ The SONOTEPS method is a simple and accurate tool for bedside assessment of diaphragm function with ultrasound-guided transcutaneous phrenic nerve stimulation in sedated patients with no or minimal spontaneous respiratory activity.
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Critical care medicine · Feb 2025
Health Care Disparities and Critical Illnesses-Related Mortality in the United States.
To examine the association between social vulnerability index (SVI) and social deprivation index (SDI) with critical illness-related mortality in the United States and to guide future research and interventions aimed at reducing disparities in outcomes in patients with critical illness. ⋯ Critical illness mortality is significantly associated with indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage. The SDI appears to be a more effective tool than the SVI for guiding resource allocation. Targeted interventions to address social determinants of health, including poverty, education, and unemployment, are essential to reduce disparities and improve outcomes in patients with critical illness. Public health strategies should focus on addressing these social determinants and enhancing support for vulnerable populations and areas.
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Critical care medicine · Feb 2025
Ableism After Critical Illness: A Qualitative Translation of Key Concepts to the Post-ICU Context.
Ableism-discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities-defines people by their disability and assumes that disabled people require fixing. We sought to characterize ableism after critical illness and to describe its relationship with care delivery. ⋯ Ableism presents multifaceted barriers to participation after critical illness, undermining resilience and wellbeing. We hypothesize that anti-ableist interventions could reduce disability-related barriers to resilience to optimize recovery after critical illness.
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Critical care medicine · Feb 2025
Associations Between Social Economic Determinants and Long-Term Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients.
Differences in socioeconomic status (SES) may influence long-term physical, psychological, and cognitive health outcomes of ICU survivors. However, the relationship between SES and these three long-term health outcomes is rarely studied. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between SES and the occurrence of long-term outcomes 1-year post-ICU. ⋯ Indicators of lower SES, including low education level, low income, unemployment and migrants were associated with an increased risk of post-ICU health problems. Gaining insight into the complex relationship between SES and long-term health problems is necessary to decrease disparities in healthcare.