Objectives: To assess symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and health related quality of life in a sample of adult patients treated with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Design and setting: This is a cross-sectional study. The population were all patients discharged (2008-2018) from a thoracic surgical intensive ward at a tertiary university hospital in Norway. A sample of 20 patients was recruited.
Main outcome measures: Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were assessed using Impact of Events Scale-Revised, while symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey was applied to measure health-related quality of life.
Results: Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were reported by 40% of the participants. Twenty percent reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Compared to the general population, participants reported poorer health-related quality of life on all domains, and significantly worse on the domains physical function, general health and social function.
Conclusion: Patients in our study reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and impaired health-related quality of life following treatment with veno-arterial extra corporeal membrane oxygenation. Addressing possible emotional and psychological distress could represent a potential major improvement in health care provided to this group. Further research is needed to incorporate prophylactic methods, such as identifying vulnerable patients and implement corresponding interventions, into clinical practice.
Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; Post-traumatic stress disorders; Quality of life.
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