Predictors of Resilience and Positive Outcomes for Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure and their Family Members: An Observational Study to Guide Intervention Development
Erin Kross, MD (University of Washington)
Shelby Langer (Site PI)
NIH/NHLBI
Acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU) is common, affecting almost 800,000 people each year. With survival from acute respiratory failure improving over time, research on quality of life among ICU survivors and their family members has become increasingly important. To date, this research has mainly focused on the negative experiences of survivors and their family members, including long-term psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. In other areas of patient survivorship, including cancer and trauma, studies have shown that survivors may respond with psychological adaptations that enable them to experience positive changes in the context of their disease. These psychological adaptations include resilience, post-traumatic growth and benefit finding. A better understanding of the factors that define and influence patients’ and families’ psychological adaptations to the experience of illness, as well as the association between these psychological adaptations and outcomes provides a novel opportunity to develop interventions to improve patient- and family-centered outcomes following acute respiratory failure. Specific aims for this study are: (1) To determine patient characteristics associated with positive psychological adaptation in patient survivors of acute respiratory failure; (2) To determine family characteristics and ICU processes of care associated with positive psychological adaptation in family members; and (3) To determine the association between patient and family psychological adaptation and patient and family long-term outcomes including quality of life, adverse psychological symptoms and healthcare utilization.