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Objectives: To describe work participation in survivors during first year after intensive care unit discharge and examine the impact of selected demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors on return to work 12 months after discharge., Research Methodology/design: A predefined sub-study (prospective cohort study) of a randomised controlled trial., Setting: A Norwegian single-centre university hospital. Medical and surgical adult intensive care survivors, working/on sick leave before admission, in the intensive care unit ≥24 h, were included., Main Outcome Measures: Return to work three, six and 12 months after discharge, and impact of age, pre-existing comorbidities, previous serious life events, coping ability, hope and social support on return to work 12 months after discharge., Results: Included were 284 patients, with mean age 47 years (SD 13.9) and 47 % women. One year after discharge, 69 % were back at work. In the regression analysis, with working at 12 months (yes/no) as the dependent variable, 178 patients, completing questionnaires at three as well as 12 months, were included. Lower age (OR 0.96, 95 % CI [0.93-0.99]), lower pre-existing comorbidities (OR 0.65, 95 % CI [0.43-0.97]), previous serious life events (OR 6.53, 95 % CI [2.14-19.94]), and greater hope at three months (OR 1.09, 95 % CI [1.01-1.17]) were all independently associated with higher odds of returning to work., Conclusion: Following intensive care, age, pre-existing comorbidities, experience of previous serious life events and hope all have a significant impact on return to work, and are important variables to consider during intensive care treatment and rehabilitation., Implications for Clinical Practice: Attention must be paid to patients with prior working capability to ensure return to work after intensive care treatment. Older adults with pre-existing comorbidities might benefit from early, individualised rehabilitation to regain previous working capacity. In addition, there is also a need to support patients' hope during and after critical illness., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and trajectory of family caregivers' post-traumatic stress symptoms during the first year after a patient's admission to the intensive care unit and identify associations between family caregivers' background characteristics, hope and post-traumatic stress symptoms., Research Methodology/designs: Family caregivers of intensive care unit patients (n = 211) completed questionnaires at patient admission to the intensive care unit and thereafter at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Mixed-model analyses were performed., Setting: Four intensive care units in a university hospital in Norway., Main Outcome Measures: Impact of Event Scale-Revised and Herth Hope Index., Results: On admission, 54% of family caregivers reported high post-traumatic stress symptom levels, which decreased during the first six  months after patient discharge. Lower levels of hope, being younger, having more comorbidities and being on sick leave were associated with higher post-traumatic stress symptom levels. Being the parent of the patient was associated with decreased post-traumatic stress symptom levels., Conclusions: Family caregivers of intensive care unit patients report high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Higher levels of hope were associated with fewer post-traumatic stress symptoms., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)