Diaries and memories following an ICU stay: a 2‐month follow‐up study

Many patients lack a clear recollection from their stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). Diaries have been introduced as a tool to complete memories and reduce the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).To describe and compare patients' memories and PTSD in relation to having received and read or not received a diary and patients' experiences of having received and read their diary, without having discussed the contents with ICU staff.Descriptive and comparative.Patients received their diaries at ICU discharge. After 2 months patients answered the ICU Memory Tool, a screening instrument for PTSD (PTSS-14) and a questionnaire including space for own comments about the diaries.Of 96 patients, 52(54%) received a diary, 44 did not. Patients with diaries had significantly longer stay and more mechanical ventilation. Of these, 40 patients responded to PTSS-14 and had evaluated and read the diary and 34 patients served as controls. No significant differences were found in presence/absence of memories between these groups. In the diary-group patients with emotional memories had lower APACHE. Feelings of being anxious or frightened were more common in the diary-group. At 2 months, 12% scored above cut-off on the PTSS14 with no difference between groups. The diaries were helpful for understanding the ICU-stay.Diaries seem valuable in understanding what happened, as an act of caring and as a tool for discussion with relatives and friends. Patients valued reading their diaries. None expressed the wish to have read the diary together with a member of staff. The diary and non-diary groups however reported similar memories.Diaries seem to be valuable in understanding what happened, giving a feeling of trust and for talking about their ICU-stay. As many patients described stressful memories, sessions should be offered with ICU staff.