The ICU Visits
Trial question
What is the effect of flexible ICU visitation on family members of critically ill patients?
Study design
Multi-center
Open label
RCT
Population
Characteristics of study participants
71.0% female
29.0% male
N = 519
519 patients (369 female, 150 male).
Inclusion criteria: family members of critically ill patients.
Key exclusion criteria: communication difficulty; no telephone contact; no informed consent.
Interventions
N=288 flexible visitation (visit hours made flexible for up to 12 hours/day).
N=231 restrictive visitation (visit time restricted to 1.5 hours/day).
Primary outcome
Posttraumatic stress symptoms measured by Impact of Event Scale-6 at 12 months
21%
30.5%
30.5 %
22.9 %
15.3 %
7.6 %
0.0 %
Flexible
visitation
Restrictive
visitation
Significant
decrease ▼
NNT = 10
Significant decrease in posttraumatic stress symptoms measured by the Impact of Event Scale-6 at 12 months (21% vs. 30.5%; PR 0.91, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.98).
Secondary outcomes
No significant difference in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-anxiety > 7 at 12 months (28.9% vs. 33.2%; PR 0.93, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.21).
No significant difference in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-depression > 7 at 12 months (19.2% vs. 25%; PR 0.78, 95% CI 0.6 to 1.02).
Borderline significant decrease in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-depression > 10 at 12 months (8.2% vs. 12.3%; PR 0.61, 95% CI 0.39 to 1).
Conclusion
In family members of critically ill patients, flexible visitation was superior to restrictive visitation with respect to posttraumatic stress symptoms measured by the Impact of Event Scale-6 at 12 months.
Reference
Jennifer Menna Barreto de Souza, Aline Paula Miozzo, Rosa da Rosa Minho Dos Santos et al. Long-term effects of flexible visitation in the intensive care unit on family members' mental health: 12-month results from a randomized clinical trial. Intensive Care Med. 2024 Aug 22. Online ahead of print.
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