Single-center large-cohort study into quality of life in Dutch intensive care unit subgroups, 1 year after admission, using EuroQoL EQ-6D-3L

J Crit Care. 2015 Feb;30(1):181-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2014.09.009. Epub 2014 Sep 22.

Abstract

Purpose: The goal of this study was to describe long-term survival and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), measured by EQ-6D, in a general intensive care unit (ICU) population.

Materials and methods: We included 5934 consecutive adult patients admitted to a mixed-population ICU. There were no exclusion criteria. One-year survival status was determined using the Dutch municipal population register. Subsequently, all survivors received the EuroQoL EQ-6D-3L questionnaire. The primary outcome was overall HRQoL and survival of the ICU survivors, compared to overall QoL of an age- and sex-matched reference population.

Results: A total of 5138 patients (86.6%) survived until hospital discharge, with 4647 (78.3%) patients surviving the 1-year of follow-up. The EuroQoL questionnaire was sent to 4465 survivors and returned by 3034 (68.0%) of 4465. The median HRQoL in surviving patients was 0.83 (interquartile range [IQR], 0.64-1.00) vs 0.86 (IQR, 0.85-0.86) in the reference population (P < .001). There was marked variation across admission diagnosis groups: cardiac surgery patients had an HRQoL of 0.94 (IQR, 0.74-1.00), whereas patients admitted with chronic renal failure had an HRQoL of 0.65 (IQR, 0.47-0.83).

Conclusions: One year after ICU admission, HRQoL was significantly lower than in the reference population. Notably, marked variations were found across subgroups.

Keywords: Critical care; EuroQoL; Health-related quality of life; Intensive care; Long term; Quality of life.

MeSH terms

  • APACHE
  • Aged
  • Cohort Studies
  • Critical Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Critical Illness / mortality*
  • Female
  • Health Surveys / methods
  • Hospital Mortality
  • Hospitalization*
  • Humans
  • Intensive Care Units / statistics & numerical data*
  • Length of Stay
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Netherlands
  • Patient Discharge
  • Quality of Life*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Survival Analysis
  • Survivors*
  • Time Factors