COVID-19 Survivors' Intensive Care Unit Experiences and Their Possible Effects on Mental Health A Qualitative Study


Telatar T. G., Telatar A., Hocaoğlu Ç., Hizal A., Sakin M., Üner S.

JOURNAL OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE, vol.210, no.12, pp.925-929, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 210 Issue: 12
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1097/nmd.0000000000001560
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, ATLA Religion Database, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, Educational research abstracts (ERA), EMBASE, MEDLINE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.925-929
  • Keywords: COVID-19, intensive care units, survivors, experiences, phenomenological approach
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

It is known that being hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) for any reason is a risk factor for future psychiatric problems. This qualitative study aims to identify the experiences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ICU survivors and provide insights for relevant mental health problems after being discharged. Participants were COVID-19 patients discharged from ICUs of a secondary care hospital. The experiences of 21 ICU survivors were evaluated using Colaizzi's 7-step approach, which were determined by the purposeful sampling method. There were three themes generated from the interviews as "emotions on COVID-19 diagnosis," "feelings about ICU stay and health care providers," and "life in the shadow of COVID-19." Two subthemes for every single theme were generated, and a total of 19 codes were extracted. It is essential to understand the individual's unique experiences in designing preventive interventions and apply individual preventive mental health interventions during ICU stay.