Anxiety and depression evaluation in the relatives of intensive care unit patients

In our study, we aimed to determine the factors related to and the frequencies of anxiety and depression symptoms manifested in the relatives of intensive care patients by using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).Total of 150 of relatives over the age of 18 whose patients were hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit over 48 hours were included in the study. Patients? sociodemographic information (age, gender, marital status, education), reasons for ICU stay, hemodynamic parameters, and GCS, APACHE II, MODS scores were recorded. Relatives were asked to fill the questionnaire that included sociodemographic information (age, gender, marital satus, education and work status), efficiency of information about the patient and HADS.When all clinical anxiety and depression data were assessed together; 76% of relatives showed symptoms of anxiety and 72.6% of relatives showed symptoms of depression. Women had more depression and anxiety symptoms compared to men. Anxiety and depression symptoms were found in 67.8% and 66.7% of women, respectively. There were higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms in spouses, parents, children and siblings compared to other relatives. Relatives with high APACHE II score had more anxiety and depression symptoms. Moreover, relatives with high MODS and low GCS had more depression symptoms. Relatives who were sufficiently informed relative to those who were not showed more anxiety symptoms at borderline.Education level and previous ICU experience of patient relatives, their frequency of being informed and getting information from the same person did not affect anxiety and depression symptoms. More levels of anxiety was reported in the unemployed relatives compared to those employed, but there was no significant difference in depression frequency.Keywords: Anxiety and depression, Intensive Care Unit, Family member