Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Family

Alyssa C Smith; Haley N Ferguson; Rachel M Russell; Parth Savsani; Sophia Wang

doi:10.1016/j.ccc.2024.08.008

Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Family

Crit Care Clin. 2025 Jan;41(1):73-88. doi: 10.1016/j.ccc.2024.08.008. Epub 2024 Sep 17.

Authors

Alyssa C Smith¹, Haley N Ferguson², Rachel M Russell¹, Parth Savsani², Sophia Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, IUH Goodman Hall, 355 West 16th Street, Box 4100, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, 545 Barnhill Drive, Emerson Hall 305, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, IUH Goodman Hall, 355 West 16th Street, Box 4100, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39547728
PMCID: PMC11573244 (available on 2026-01-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccc.2024.08.008

Abstract

Family members of patients admitted to intensive care units often experience psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms, known as post-intensive care syndrome-family (PICS-F), due to the stress from having a critically ill loved one and resultant caregiver burden. Awareness of this syndrome is needed, as are prevention and management strategies, to improve outcomes.

Keywords: Caregiver burden; Critical care illness; PICS; PICS-F; Post-intensive care syndrome family.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anxiety / etiology
Caregivers / psychology
Critical Care / psychology
Critical Illness* / psychology
Depression / etiology
Family* / psychology
Female
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Male
Stress, Psychological / etiology

Supplementary concepts

postintensive care syndrome

Grants and funding

K23 AG062555/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States