Post ICU Follow up: A Questionnaire Survey of Aftercare in Denmark

Annually, more than 30,000 patients are admitted for treatment at Danish intensive care units (ICUs). These critically ill patients are some of the most vulnerable in the health care system.

For years, focus has primarily been on treatment and survival of this patient group. As treatment effectiveness has gradually increased, the overall survival rate is now above 80%. Consequently, the period following ICU discharge has gained increasing focus and follow up interventions in the period after ICU treatment have become more common. These different follow up interventions has given name to the concept of 'aftercare'. Aftercare activities includes both early rehabilitation initiated during the continued hospital admission and also the following rehabilitation after hospital discharge.

Complications after intensive care treatment are numerous, including both physical, cognitive and psychological impairments, e.g. depression, muscle weakness, anxiety and social isolation. Together these symptoms are defined as post intensive care syndrome (PICS).

While it is clear that a need for aftercare exists, the optimal evidence based activities remains to be determined. The current follow-up activities are established as local initiatives and the methods vary greatly. Examples of present aftercare interventions include use of diaries, follow-up consultations, revisiting the ICU and assessment of quality of life.

A recent systematic review examined these different rehabilitation efforts, without finding significant effects of the present interventions, although usage of ICU-diaries had a minor preventive effect on post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). A Danish meta-analysis from 2015 on follow-up consultations showed similar results.

Aftercare is a rapidly developing area and it is necessary to further investigate this important topic. Therefore, the investigators want to describe the current level of aftercare with a new mapping of activities in all Danish ICUs. Hereby, the investigators hope to create a better and up-to-date foundation for further development within Danish aftercare. Furthermore, the investigators wish to research on the clinician-experienced (the participants) attitude towards and limitations for aftercare activities, in order to discuss directions for future development.