The functional outcome and quality of life of children after admission to an intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the long-term outcome of children following admission to a paediatric intensive care unit.

Design

Prospective, long-term follow-up study.

Setting

Sixteen-bed multi-disciplinary paediatric intensive care unit in a free-standing, university, tertiary, teaching hospital.

Patients

All children consecutively admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit from 1^st January, 1995, to 31^st December, 1995.

Interventions

Outcome was evaluated, by telephone interview, at a median of 3.5 years (range 2.3–6 years) after admission to the intensive care unit using a modification of the Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) to assess functional outcome and the Health State Utility Index (Mark 1) to assess quality of life.

Measurements and main results

Of the children admitted to the intensive care unit, 83.8% were alive at the time of follow-up. While 10.3% of the survivors had an unfavourable outcome and were likely to live dependent on care, 89.7% had a favourable outcome and were likely to lead an independent existence. Although 16.4% had an unfavourable quality of life, 83.6% of the children survived with a favourable quality of life. At the time of follow-up, 16.2% of the children were dead: 49% died in the intensive care unit, 5% died in hospital and 46% died after discharge from hospital.

Conclusions

The majority of children admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit survive with an excellent functional outcome and quality of life. Long-term outcome assessment provides a basis for observing trends in outcome over time within the same institution.