Family members of critically ill cancer patients: assessing the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Objective: To determine prevalence and factors associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in family members of critically ill cancer patients.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: A 23-bed intensive care unit in a tertiary cancer centre.

Patients And Participants: Three hundred consecutive families of cancer patients with length of stay >72 h in ICU.

Intervention: None.

Measurements And Main Results: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire and critical care family needs inventory were completed by family members. Prevalence of anxiety and depression in family members was 71 and 50.3%, respectively. Regarding the patients' disease, family depression was correlated with presence of metastasis, whereas hematological malignancies correlated with family' anxiety. Anxiety was independently associated with one patient-related factor (prolonged mechanical ventilation) and two family-related factors (catholic religion and gender). Factors associated with symptoms of depression included one patient-related factor (presence of metastasis) and one family-related factor (gender).

Conclusions: Present findings demonstrated a high prevalence of anxiety and depression in critically ill cancer patients' family members during an intensive care unit stay.