Patients' experience of critical illness and cognitive outcomes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The road to recovery: A study on patients’ experience of critical illness and cognitive outcomes within the first 9 months following critical illness
IRAS ID
349697
Contact name
Deirdre Addae
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
na, na
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 25 days
Research summary
Each year in the UK, about 200,000 adults are admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) for critical illnesses, often needing life-support treatments. While ICUs save lives, many survivors face post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), which includes cognitive, mental, and physical health problems. These issues may include memory loss, trouble focusing, and difficulties solving problems. A major risk factor is ICU delirium, a temporary brain dysfunction linked to stressors like sedative drugs and sleep disturbances.
Many ICU survivors also experience psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often tied to ICU stress and sedation. These mental health problems are known to affect brain functions like memory and decision-making. Physical issues such as pain and fatigue can further drain cognitive abilities, making tasks that require focus even harder.
Some survivors describe symptoms like “brain fog” and trouble concentrating, which are not well studied. It’s unclear if these subjective complaints align with measurable cognitive changes or emotional and physical health changes during recovery. Understanding this link is crucial to improving support for ICU survivors.
To explore this, the study will track ICU survivors’ cognitive and mental recovery over time. Using a mixed-methods approach, participants will undergo cognitive tests and self-reported assessments of mood and quality of life. Qualitative data about participants' subjective experiences of cognitive change will also be collected. These assessments will occur across two sessions with 6-month intervals. This timeline means that participants will complete their first session at approximately 3 months and again at about 9 months after discharge from hospital. Demographic and ICU-related data will also be analyzed. Participants will include surgical and non-surgical ICU and high-dependency unit (HDU) patients, with or without ventilator support, from a district hospital.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0154
Date of REC Opinion
18 May 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion