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The challenges of an intensive care unit (ICU) stay do not end with discharge. For many patients, emotionally and physically exhausting posthospital care is performed by family members or close friends. Investigators from Canada surveyed 280 primary caregivers (70% women; 61% spouses) of patients who had received at least 7 days of mechanical ventilation and had survived to discharge. Caregivers completed questionnaires at 7 days after patients' ICU discharges (baseline) and 3, 6, and 12 months later; response rates for the follow-up questionnaires were 85%, 70%, and 55%, respectively.
Most caregivers continued to work outside their homes. Based on a standardized depression scale, two thirds of caregivers were at risk for depression at basel…