Association of distorted memories, psychiatric symptoms, and quality of life in postoperative ICU patients after 12 months: A cross-sectional study

Intensive care unit patients often experience memory disturbances, including missing or delusional memories. These memory distortions can contribute to the development of psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression. In addition, distorted memories may adversely affect long-term quality of life. However, the association between distorted memories, psychiatric symptoms, and quality of life remains to be fully elucidated in intensive care unit patients. Accordingly, this study explored the relationship between memory distortion, psychiatric symptoms, and long-term quality of life in intensive care unit patients following scheduled surgery. Among 24 patients, 13 experienced memory distortions 12 months post-intensive care unit discharge. These patients exhibited significantly higher anxiety and depression symptoms 1 month after discharge. In addition, over 25% of patients reported low mental quality of life, and over 50% had low physical quality of life 1 year later. These findings suggest that memory distortions can negatively impact both mental and physical recovery, underscoring the need for interventions to preserve factual memory and enhance patient autonomy post-intensive care unit.