Table 3.
Aspects of aftercare for relatives of ICU patients
| Pre-COVID-19 (n = 25) |
First wave (n = 39) |
Second wave (n = 26) |
Total (n = 90) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Did a healthcare professional from the hospital ask you in the weeks/months after your loved one died how you were doing? Yes | 7 (35.0%) | 23 (60.5%) | 6 (25.0%) | 36 (43.9%) | 0.014 |
| Did you have an appointment with an ICU physician after the death of your loved one?e | |||||
| Yes | 5 (23.8%) | 14 (35.9%) | 3 (12.5%) | 22 (26.2%) | 0.128 |
| No, namely.a | 16 (76.2%) | 25 (64.1%) | 21 (87.5%) | 62 (73.8%) | |
| n = 16 | n = 25 | n = 21 | n = 62 | ||
| … due to COVID-19 restrictionsb | NA | 5 (20.0%) | 0 | 5 (10.9%) | 0.054c |
| … no need | 5 (31.3%) | 6 (24.0%) | 5 (23.8%) | 16 (25.8%) | 0.871 |
| … did not know about option | 5 (31.3%) | 12 (48.0%) | 10 (47.6%) | 27 (43.5%) | 0.555 |
| … possible relive of negative experiences | 0 | 2 (8.0%) | 2 (9.5%) | 4 (6.5%) | 0.669c |
| … other reasond | 6 (37.5%) | 5 (20.0%) | 7 (33.3%) | 18 (29.0%) | 0.406 |
aThe percentages for the different reasons why relatives had not had an appointment with an ICU physician is calculated as a proportion of the people who did not have an appointment (resp. 16, 25, 21 and 62 relatives)
bOnly asked to relatives from the first and second COVID-19 wave
cFisher’s exact test instead of a chi-squared test, because > 20% of the cells had an expected count of less than 5
dExamples of other reasons mentioned: relative felt that the ICU was too far away; according to the relative it makes no sense because you do not get your loved one back through the appointment; relative does not want to bother the ICU physician
eMultiple answers possible