By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 24, 2008

Family members may experience post-traumatic stress as many as six months after a loved one’s stay in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The study, by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of California, San Francisco, is published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Researchers found that symptoms of anxiety and depression in family members of ICU patients diminished over time, but high rates of post-traumatic stress and complicated grief remained.

“Our findings suggest that family members of patients in the intensive care unit are at risk for serious psychological disorders that may require treatment,” said Cindy L. Bryce, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

“Unfortunately, it may be difficult to identify these family members while their loved one is in the hospital because the symptoms that we can observe and measure early – anxiety and depression – do not seem to be associated with the longer term outcomes like post-traumatic stress disorder and complicated grief. This tells us that screening family members after hospitalization is crucial.”

The study included 50 family members of patients who were admitted to the ICU. Researchers measured family members’ level of anxiety and depression in the ICU and at one- and six-month follow-up. They also measured symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and complicated grief during the six-month follow-up interview.

Forty-two percent of family members exhibited symptoms of anxiety in the ICU. This percentage dropped to 15 percent at six-month follow-up. Likewise, 16 percent of family members displayed depression in the ICU that dropped to 6 percent at six months.

At six-month follow-up, 35 percent of all family m...