Process evaluation and the development of behavioural interventions to improve psychological distress among survivors of critical illness
Ann Marie Parker, Albahi M. Malik, Megan M. Hosey
Thorax October 18, 2018 DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2018-211989 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot randomized controlled trial Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 80 |
| Population | Adult ICU survivors with cardiorespiratory failure who spent at least 24 hours in intensive care |
| Interventions | Mobile mindfulness training application Telephone mindfulness training Education control |
| Duration | 4 weekly intervention sessions; 3-month follow-up |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | The mobile mindfulness app was rated as having 'strong' acceptability and usability, with 'positive' qualitative feedback. At three-month follow-up, anxiety and depressive symptoms showed no significant improvement from baseline in the education control group, while there was a trend toward improvement in the mobile and telephone mindfulness groups. |
Abstract
Depressive, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are common, long-lasting and associated with worse quality of life among intensive care unit (ICU) survivors.1–4 There are few clinical trials evaluating interventions to improve these symptoms. Cox and colleagues evaluated the feasibility of a mobile mindfulness training application (App) to address psychological stress after critical illness.5 Mindfulness promotes non-judgmental awareness of the present and acceptance of emotions, thoughts (eg, ‘I’m broken’, ‘I’m dependent’) and physiological states (eg, pain, shortness of breath), thus improving engagement with thoughts and behaviours related to illness along with coping and medical management of disease.6 This multisite pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) randomised 80 participants to one of the three groups: mobile App, telephone mindfulness training or education control. Eligibility criteria included adults in the ICU ≥24 hours with cardiorespiratory failure. Participants randomised to mobile mindfulness intervention interacted with the App over 4 weekly mindfulness training sessions. Participants in the telephone group completed 4 weekly telephone mindfulness sessions (~30 min each) with a trained psychologist. The education control group received two telephone calls and a self-directed web-based programme focused on the nature and treatment of critical illness. Primary outcomes included feasibility, acceptability and usability. Secondary outcomes included depressive, anxiety and PTSD symptoms. Approximately 83% (n=66) of patients completed the study. Loss to follow-up was 29%, 10% and 11% in the mobile mindfulness, telephone mindfulness and education groups, respectively. The percentage of participants who were not lost to follow-up completing all intervention sessions was ≥92% in each group. The results demonstrated ‘strong’ acceptability and usability with qualitative feedback considered overall ‘positive’ regarding the App. At 3-month follow-up, preliminary data demonstrated no significant improvement from baseline (before hospital discharge) in anxiety and depressive symptoms in the education control group while there was a trend toward improvements in these symptoms in the mobile and …