Family members of critically ill cancer patients: assessing the symptoms of anxiety and depression

Byline: Renata Rego Lins Fumis (1), Daniel Deheinzelin (1,2) Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Intensive care unit; Hospital anxiety and depression scale; Cancer Abstract: Objective To determine prevalence and factors associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in family members of critically ill cancer patients. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting A 23-bed intensive care unit in a tertiary cancer centre. Patients and Participants Three hundred consecutive families of cancer patients with length of stay >72 h in ICU. Intervention None. Measurements and main results The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire and critical care family needs inventory were completed by family members. Prevalence of anxiety and depression in family members was 71 and 50.3%, respectively. Regarding the patients' disease, family depression was correlated with presence of metastasis, whereas hematological malignancies correlated with family' anxiety. Anxiety was independently associated with one patient-related factor (prolonged mechanical ventilation) and two family-related factors (catholic religion and gender). Factors associated with symptoms of depression included one patient-related factor (presence of metastasis) and one family-related factor (gender). Conclusions Present findings demonstrated a high prevalence of anxiety and depression in critically ill cancer patients' family members during an intensive care unit stay. Author Affiliation: (1) Unidade de Terapia Intensiva, Centro de Tratamento e Pesquisa Hospital A C Camargo, Rua Prof. Antonio Prudente, 211, Sao Paulo, SP, CEP 01509-900, Brazil (2) Nucleo Avancado de Torax, Hospital Sirio Libanes, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil Article History: Registration Date: 13/01/2009 Received Date: 17/04/2008 Accepted Date: 01/12/2008 Online Date: 29/01/2009 Article note: Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: 10.1007/s00134-009-1406-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.