Experience of Staying in Intensive Care and Impact on Quality of Life

It now seems well established that post-traumatic stress disorder following a stay in intensive care is one of the factors that affects patients' quality of life after they leave hospital. Several qualitative and quantitative studies suggest that there are several factors associated with the onset of this post-traumatic stress disorder, including the absence of memory of the stay in intensive care. With this in mind, some intensive care units (in France and abroad) are implementing measures to improve the patient experience during their stay, particularly to compensate for this lack of memory: several studies show a link between the introduction of intensive care unit logbooks and a decrease in the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder after returning home. The aim of this research project is to measure the experience of the stay in intensive care and its possible impact on quality of life. It is therefore part of a process of implementing measures within general and cardiovascular surgical intensive care units, aimed at better assessing and improving the quality of life of patients after a stay in intensive care.