A tool to measure the change in health status of selected adult patients before and after intensive care.

If the effect of intensive care on the patient is to be fully assessed then the health status of patients before and after admission to ICU must be measured. The validity of a simplified system which can also use relatives, where necessary, as informants on the patients' pre-morbid health status has been evaluated. In a District General Hospital Intensive Care Unit a questionnaire based survey of 85 patients admitted over a period of eight months used a new specially-designed instrument and compared this with the Functional Limitations Profile (FLP) and the Perceived Quality of Life instrument (PQL). Relatives completed the health status questionnaire as soon as possible after the patient's admission and patients completed a suitably modified version at discharge from ICU. Patients were sent the FLP, PQL and modified health status questionnaire six months and one year after discharge. Questionnaires were completed by 59 paired relatives and patients. Questions were answered in the same way by relatives and patients; 42 of the 59 pairs of results were in agreement within two points of better or worse health. The closest responses were provided by wives in daily contact with their partner. At six months post ICU discharge, 49 patients completed the follow-up questionnaires, 12 patients had died and three were too confused to co-operate. Twenty-one patients (25%) were lost to follow-up. At one year post ICU discharge, 43 patients completed the follow-up questionnaires, one other patient had died and three still remained confused.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)