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Psychosocial Adaptation in Relatives of Critically Injured Patients Admitted to an Intensive Care Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Agustín Martín Rodríguez  and
Mª Ángeles Pérez San Gregorio
Agustín Martín Rodríguez*
Affiliation:
University of Seville
Mª Ángeles Pérez San Gregorio
Affiliation:
University of Seville
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Agustín Martín Rodríguez, University of Seville, Dept. of Psychology, C/ Camilo José Cela, s/n, Seville, 41018, Spain. E-mail: amartinr@us.es.
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Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze how the length of time a patient spends in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) affects close relatives, with regard to specific clinical variables of personality, family relationships and fear of death. The study group consisted of 57 relatives of seriously ill patients admitted to the ICU of “Virgen del Rocío” Rehabilitation and Trauma Hospital (Seville, Spain). The instruments applied were: a psychosocial questionnaire, clinical analysis questionnaire, family environment scale and fear of death scale. The relatives of patients admitted to ICU obtained higher scores in hypochondria, suicidal depression, agitation, anxious depression, guilt-resentment, paranoia, psychasthenia, psychological maladjustment and self-expression, and less in fear of their own death, as when compared to interviews with the same relatives 4 years later. The length of time a patient spent in the ICU influenced relatives in some clinical variables of personality, family relationships and fear of death.

Hemos analizado la influencia del tiempo transcurrido desde el ingreso del paciente en la UCI en sus familiares mas allegados, sobre determinadas variables clínicas de personalidad, las relaciones familiares y el temor experimentado ante la muerte. La muestra estaba formada por 57 familiares de pacientes traumatizados graves ingresados en la UCI de Traumatología. Hemos empleado una encuesta psicosocial y los siguientes instrumentos: Cuestionario de Análisis Clínico, Escala de Clima Social en la Familia y Escala de Temor a la Muerte. Los familiares de pacientes ingresados en la UCI, comparados con los mismos familiares cuatro años después del ingreso, obtienen puntuaciones más elevadas en hipocondria, depresión suicida, agitación, depresión ansiosa, culpabilidad-resentimiento, paranoia, psicastenia, desajuste psicológico y expresividad, y menor en el temor al proceso de morir propio. El tiempo transcurrido desde el ingreso del paciente en la UCI ejerce una influencia sobre sus familiares en algunas variables clínicas de personalidad, las relaciones familiares y el temor experimentado ante la muerte.

Keywords

intensive carepersonalityfamily environmentfear of deathPalabras claves: cuidados críticospersonalidadclima familiartemor a la muerte
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , May 2005 , pp. 36 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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