Predictors of ICU Surrogates’ States of Concurrent Prolonged Grief, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Depression Symptoms

Abstract

Objectives: Scarce research explores factors of concurrent psychologic distress (prolonged grief disorder [PGD], post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], and depression). This study models surrogates’ longitudinal, heterogenous grief-related reactions and multidimensional risk factors drawing from the integrative framework of predictors for bereavement outcomes (intrapersonal, interpersonal, bereavement-related, and death-circumstance factors), emphasizing clinical modifiability. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Medical ICUs of two Taiwanese medical centers. Subjects: Two hundred eighty-eight family surrogates. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Factors associated with four previously identified PGD-PTSD-depressive-symptom states (resilient, subthreshold depression-dominant, PGD-dominant, and PGD-PTSD-depression concurrent) were examined by multinomial logistic regression modeling (resilient state as reference). Intrapersonal: Prior use of mood medications correlated with the subthreshold depression-dominant state. Financial hardship and emergency department visits correlated with the PGD-PTSD-depression concurrent state. Higher anxiety symptoms correlated with the three more profound psychologic-distress states (adjusted odds ratio [95% CI] = 1.781 [1.562–2.031] to 2.768 [2.288–3.347]). Interpersonal: Better perceived social support was associated with the subthreshold depression-dominant state. Bereavement-related: Spousal loss correlated with the PGD-dominant state. Death circumstances: Provision of palliative care (8.750 [1.603–47.768]) was associated with the PGD-PTSD-depression concurrent state. Surrogate-perceived quality of patient dying and death as poor-to-uncertain (4.063 [1.531–10.784]) correlated with the subthreshold depression-dominant state, poor-to-uncertain (12.833 [1.231–133.775]), and worst (12.820 [1.806–91.013]) correlated with the PGD-PTSD-depression concurrent state. Modifiable social-worker involvement (0.004 [0.001–0.097]) and a do-not-resuscitate order issued before death (0.177 [0.032–0.978]) were negatively associated with the PGD-PTSD-depression concurrent and the subthreshold depression-dominant state, respectively. Apparent unmodifiable buffering factors included surrogates’ higher educational attainment, married status, and longer time since loss. Conclusions: Surrogates’ concurrent bereavement distress was positively associated with clinically modifiable factors: poor quality dying and death, higher surrogate anxiety, and palliative care—commonly provided late in the terminal-illness trajectory worldwide. Social-worker involvement and a do-not-resuscitate order appeared to mitigate risk.