Feasibility of Telephone Follow-Up after Critical Care Discharge
Open Access
- 14 March 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Medical Sciences
- Vol. 8 (1), 16
- https://doi.org/10.3390/medsci8010016
Abstract
Background: Critical care has evolved from a primary focus on short-term survival, with greater attention being placed on longer-term health care outcomes. It is not known how best to implement follow-up after critical care discharge. Study aims were to (1) assess the uptake and feasibility of telephone follow-up after a critical care stay and (2) profile overall physical status and recovery during the sub-acute recovery period using a telephone follow-up assessment. Methods: Adults who had been admitted to critical care units of St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, for >72 h were followed up by telephone 3–9 months post discharge from critical care. The telephone assessment consisted of a battery of questionnaires (including the SF-36 questionnaire and the Clinical Frailty Scale) and examined quality of life, frailty, employment status, and feasibility of telephone follow-up. Results: Sixty five percent (n = 91) of eligible participants were reachable by telephone. Of these, 80% (n = 73) participated in data collection. Only 7% (n = 5) expressed a preference for face-to-face hospital-based follow-up as opposed to telephone follow-up. For the SF-36, scores were lower in a number of physical health domains as compared to population norms. Frailty increased in 43.2% (n = 32) of participants compared to pre-admission status. Two-thirds (n = 48) reported being >70% physically recovered. Conclusion: Results showed that telephone follow-up is a useful contact method for a typically hard-to-reach population. Deficits in physical health and frailty were noted in the sub-acute period after discharge from critical care.Keywords
This publication has 34 references indexed in Scilit:
- Integrated Literature Review of Postdischarge Telephone CallsWestern Journal of Nursing Research, 2013
- Critical care rehabilitation trials: the importance of ‘usual care’Critical Care, 2013
- An exploration of social and economic outcome and associated health-related quality of life after critical illness in general intensive care unit survivors: a 12-month follow-up studyCritical Care, 2013
- Frailty in the critically ill: a novel conceptCritical Care, 2011
- The challenge of designing a post-critical illness rehabilitation interventionCritical Care, 2011
- Health-related quality of life and physical recovery after a critical illness: a multi-centre randomised controlled trial of a home-based physical rehabilitation programCritical Care, 2011
- Telephone follow-up improves patients satisfaction following hospital dischargeEuropean Journal of Internal Medicine, 2009
- A global clinical measure of fitness and frailty in elderly peopleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2005
- Short form 36 (SF36) health survey questionnaire: normative data for adults of working age.BMJ, 1993
- The MOS 36-ltem Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36)Medical Care, 1992