The following is a summary of “Resilience after severe critical illness: a prospective, multicentre, observational study (RESIREA),” published in the July 2024 issue of Critical Care by Mathieu et al.

Survivors of critical illness faced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reduced QoL, but the role of resilience in mitigating psychological trauma has not been explored.

Researchers conducted a prospective study evaluating the resilience of PTSD and QoL while also identifying factors linked to higher resilience levels.

They recruited participants from 41 French ICUs and conducted them alongside the NUTRIREA-3 trial, focusing on individuals receiving MV and vasoactive amines for shock. Survivors were assessed after 3 months to 1 year after ICU admission using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised for PTSD symptoms (IES-R), the SF-36 QoL scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ).

The result showed 382 patients, of which only 203 (53.1%) exhibited normal or high resilience, defined as CD-RISC-25 scores of 68 or above. Within the group of individuals with resilience, 26 (12.8%) experienced moderate to severe PTSD symptoms, as indicated by IES-R scores of 24 or higher, compared to 45 (25.4%) of patients with low resilience (P=0.002). Patients with higher resilience also reported greater SF-36 QoL scores. Independent factors linked to elevated CD-RISC-25 scores included stronger social support, as reflected by higher MSPSS scores (OR, 1.027; 95% CI 1.008–1.047; P=0.005), and lower B-IPQ scores, suggesting a less threatening perception of illness (OR, 0.973; 95% CI 0.950–0.996; P=0.02).

Investigators concluded that enhancing social support and illness perception boosted resilience, reduced PTSD symptoms, and improved QoL, warranting evaluation in targeted intervention trials.

Source: ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-024-04989-x