The coping styles of the Sickness Insight in Coping Questionnaire (SICQ; positivism, redefinition, toughness, fighting spirit, non-acceptance) may affect the health and recovery of hospitalized critically ill patients.
Do the SICQ coping styles of hospitalized critically ill patients relate to the patients´ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and recovery?
A prospective cohort study was conducted in a single university-affiliated Dutch hospital. Participants were critically ill adult patients admitted to a mixed medical-surgical ICU (start: n = 417; pre-ICU: n = 391; hospital discharge: n = 350; 3 months follow-up: n = 318; 6 months follow-up: n = 308; 12 months follow-up: n = 285). Coping was recorded with the SICQ pre-ICU and at discharge. HRQoL was measured with the SF-12 pre-ICU, at discharge, and 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Indicators of recovery were ICU and hospital length of stay, discharge disposition, and mortality. Correlation and regression analyses were used for data analysis.
Positivism (r = .28 – .51), fighting spirit (r = .14 – .35), and redefinition (r = .12 – .23) associated significantly (P < .05) with mental HRQoL after discharge. Further, positivism associated positively (P < .01) with physical HRQoL (r = .17 – .26) after discharge. Increase in positivism (r = .13), redefinition (r = .13), and toughness (r = .13), across the period of hospitalization associated positively (P ≤ .05) with mental HRQoL at discharge. Pre-ICU positivism associated with hospital length of stay (ρ = -.21, P ≤ .05) and hazard for death (HR = 0.57, P < .01), and had unidirectional effect on mental HRQoL (β = .30, P < .001).
SICQ coping is associated with long-term mental HRQoL, hospital length of stay, and hazard for death among hospitalized critically ill patients.

Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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