Caregiver burden and impact on COVID-19 patient participation and quality of life one year after ICU discharge - A prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES: to investigate changes in caregiver strain, mental health complaints and QoL in caregivers of COVID-19 ICU survivors in the first year after discharge, and their associations with patients' participation and quality of life. METHODS: Post-ICU COVID-19 survivors, needing inpatient rehabilitation and their informal caregivers were included. Caregiver self-administered questionnaires included quality of life, self-rated health, caregiver strain, anxiety and depression symptoms, post-traumatic stress and coping style. Patients' participation in society was assessed and quality of life. RESULTS: 67 patients (78% male) and 57 caregivers (23.6% male) were included. Three months post-ICU, caregivers experienced caregiver strain (32%), anxiety (41%), depressive symptoms (16%) and PTSD (24%). One year post-ICU, rates decreased, still being 11%, 26%, 10% and 5%, respectively. Caregiver anxiety symptoms and self-rated health at three months were associated with worse patient levels of participation and quality of life one year after ICU discharge (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 caregivers experience high levels of mental health complaints one year after a patient's ICU discharge. Furthermore, our results indicate that patient participation levels and quality of life one year after ICU discharge may be negatively associated by caregiver complaints. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Counselling and routine assessment of emotional complaints and unmet needs of the informal caregiver should be incorporated and addressed in the rehabilitation treatment of (COVID-19) post-ICU patients.