Chronic pain and sensory impairment in critically ill patients after discharge from intensive care unit.

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K23140
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0908:Society medicine, nursing, and related fields
• Research Institution: Ibaraki Christian University
• Principal Investigator: OUCHI Akira 茨城キリスト教大学, 看護学部, 准教授 (90880493)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 集中治療後症候群 / 身体機能 / QOL / 慢性疼痛 / 感覚障害

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An ambidirectional cohort study was conducted at 2 ICUs in Japan. Critically ill patients who required mechanical ventilation for > 24 hours, and were living at home for 6 months, participated in the study. Six months after discharge, we performed a mail survey by mail. A questionnaire including a Pain detect questionnaire, sensory impairment questionnaire, and EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. The prevalence of chronic pain was 0.69[95％CI 0.55-0.81], and the prevalence of those with moderate or greater pain was 0.27[95％CI 0.15-0.41]. The prevalence of sensory impairment was 0.17 [0.05-0.30] for taste, 0.12 [0.04-0.25] for smell, 0.27 [0.16-0.42] for hearing, and 0.23 [0.13-0.37] for vision, respectively. Any physical impairment was observed in 58% of the patients. Further validation is needed to determine whether these physical dysfunctions are attributable to ICU admission.

Free Research Field

クリティカルケア看護

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、重症疾患後の集中治療後症候群（身体障害、精神障害、認知機能障害）には現状では含まれていない患者の愁訴に着目した研究である。持続する疼痛や感覚障害といった症状はQOLに関わる症状であり、重症患者の長期的なQOLの向上を目指すためには、慢性疼痛や感覚障害などマイナーな症状の実態解明とケア方法の確立が必要となる。今後、ICU入室中の苦痛症状との関連性の調査や、調整可能なリスク因子の解明から適切なケア方法を検討する必要がある。