Family Satisfaction of Polytrauma Patients in Intensive Care Unit at a Tertiary Care Center.

Background: Family members play a crucial role in ICU patients' treatment and decision-making, despite the stress and uncertainty they may experience, ensuring high-quality medical care. Providing comfortable spaces with noise-reducing techniques can boost family satisfaction. Further research is needed to support families in intensive care units (ICU). This study aims to evaluate family satisfaction and decision-making in polytrauma patients in the ICU, identify improvement opportunities, and analyze demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing satisfaction.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, over a period of one year. A total of 66 patients, aged between 20 and 70, their family members, and those who gave written informed consent were included. Exclusion criteria included those who died within 48 hours of ICU admission or did not give consent. Patient characteristics, such as age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, and hospital stay length, were also collected. The family satisfaction in the intensive care unit (FS-ICU) questionnaire, consisting of 24 items with five Likert response options, was used to assess satisfaction levels in ICU care and decision-making.

Results:  A study of 66 patients which included 78.79% male and 21.21% female. The majority of the patients (66.67%) lived with their family members. The mean ICU stay was 13.03 days, with an APACHE score of 17.39. The results showed that families were very satisfied with a considerable portion of the ICU stay. The overall satisfaction score was 57.00. Families were less satisfied with the atmosphere in the ICU and involvement in the decision-making process. The satisfaction scores were comparable for both genders, except for the time taken to respond to questions, which was significantly higher for women.

Conclusion: Although families were very satisfied with the ICU stay, several areas were identified as having potential for improvement. The present study shows that the quality of treatment and communication during hospitalization is a major factor in the need for follow-up care. This underlines the need for a constant focus on communication skills in the training of nurses and doctors and in their practical training in the ICU. Participation in decision-making, especially by family members of survivors, was identified as an area for improvement. We recommend more research to be conducted in India focusing on family satisfaction with involvement in the decision-making in ICU considering the unique racial, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic differences in India.