Psychological interventions could reduce mental health problems after intensive care

A study by UCL researchers at University College Hospital's intensive care unit has suggested that psychological interventions could reduce the mental health problems experienced by many patients. The research, published in Critical Care Journal , found that more than 50 per cent of patients in the study discharged from intensive care went on to suffer adverse psychological problems. It went on to investigate what causes poor mental health in certain ICU patients once they are back home supposedly 'well'. As well as identifying clinical risk factors such as different drug treatments, the research found that by far the greatest risk factor for subsequent psychological problems was experiencing acute stress reactions while in intensive care. This important finding suggests more work needs to be done to look at how psychological interventions while patients are in critical care could reduce the risk of later psychological problems. Researchers looked at four groups of risk factors (clinical, acute psychological, socio-demographic and chronic health) during the ICU admissions of 157 patients. Three months after the patients had been discharged, they were assessed to see if they had any signs of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety.