Coping strategies of family members of intensive care unit patients

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the coping strategies of family members of patients admitted to intensive care units.

Design: A cross-sectional study developed with 70 relatives of patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

Setting: An adult intensive care unit at a university hospital in Brazil.

Main outcome measures: Coping strategies were identified by the Folkman and Lazarus Inventory of Coping Strategies and statistically compared to the sociodemographic data of family members and patients' clinical data.

Results: Coping strategies focused on emotion were the most used, especially those attributed to the escape-avoidance factor. There was a significant association (p < 0.05) between women and the use of adaptive strategies focused on the problem; less education and lower income with maladaptive strategies focused on emotion; second-degree relatives and the positive reassessment factor; participants involved in religious activities and the social support factor. Regarding the clinical variables, patients admitted to the intensive care unit for more than seven days showed an association (p < 0.05) with the social support factor.

Conclusion: Family members used adaptive coping strategies more focused on emotion. Additionally, the lower the educational and economic levels, the greater the use of maladaptive strategies focused on emotion.

Keywords: Critically ill patients; Emotional adjustment; Holistic care; Professional-family relations; Psychological stress; Surveys and questionnaires.