The needs of family members of patients admitted to the intensive care unit

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of family members of intensive care unit patients

Variable	Characteristics	Frequency, n	Percentage (%)
Gender	Male	152	65.2
	Female	81	34.8
Level of education	Secondary	94	40.3
	College	76	32.6
	Postgraduate	63	27.1
Relationship to the patient	Parent	54	23.2
	Spouse	20	8.6
	Daughter/son	85	36.4
	Uncle or aunt	19	8.2
	Brother or sister	20	8.6
	Grandparent	35	15.0
Number of visits	1	12	5.1
	2–3	157	67.4
	>3	64	27.5
Level of consciousness	Conscious	30	12.9
	Semiconscious	71	30.4
	Unconscious	132	56.7

Table 2 Mean and SD of the ten most important needs of family members of intensive care unit patients, according to the CCFNI

CCFNI rank	Need	Dimension	Mean ± SD score
1	To be assured that the best care possible is being given to the patient	Assurance	3.78±0.63
2	To feel that the hospital personnel care about the patient	Assurance	3.74±0.73
3	To be told about transfer plans while they are being made	Proximity	3.72±0.64
4	To know the expected outcome	Assurance	3.69±0.85
5	To know why things were done for the patient	Information	3.68±0.75
6	To be called at home about changes in the patient’s condition	Proximity	3.67±0.81
7	To know specific facts concerning the patient’s progress	Assurance	3.63±0.78
8	To see the patient frequently	Proximity	3.62±0.81
9	To feel there is hope	Assurance	3.57±0.90
10	To have a specific person to call at the hospital when unable to visit	Information	3.56±0.79

Abbreviation: CCFNI, Critical Care Family Needs Inventory.

Table 3 Mean and SD of the ten least important needs of family members of intensive care unit patients, according to the CCFNI

CCFNI rank	Need	Dimension	Mean ± SD score
1	To have someone to help with financial problems	Support	2.11±1.23
2	To have good food available in the hospital	Comfort	2.33±1.28
3	To have another person with you when visiting the critical care unit	Support	2.54±1.29
4	To be alone at any time	Support	2.55±1.23
5	To have a telephone near the waiting room	Comfort	2.66±1.35
6	To be told about someone to help with family problems	Support	2.67±1.14
7	To have a place to be alone while in the hospital	Support	2.67±1.15
8	To talk to the same nurse every day	Proximity	2.78±1.09
9	To have friends nearby for support	Support	2.81±1.24
10	To feel it is alright to cry	Support	2.85±1.20

Abbreviation: CCFNI, Critical Care Family Needs Inventory.

Table 4 Differences in mean (±SD) between the scores of the CCFNI dimensions according to sociodemographic characteristics of the participants

Variable	Comfort	Assurance	Proximity	Information	Support
Gender
Male	3.06±0.73	3.63±0.35	3.32±0.39	3.47±0.60	2.93±0.75
Female	2.92±2.92	3.62±0.57	3.37±0.54	3.47±0.57	2.89±0.55
t-statistic (P-value*)	1.47 (0.142)	0.06 (0.860)	0.62 (0.433)	0.10 (0.919)	0.27 (0.603)
Education
Secondary	2.99±0.87	3.70±0.29	3.49±0.39	3.47±0.76	2.80±0.83
College	2.87±0.61	3.39±0.66	3.14±0.53	3.23±0.64	3.05±0.51
Postgraduate	3.13±0.62	3.72±0.27	3.35±0.37	3.62±0.27	2.92±0.68
F-statistic (P-value)	2.62 (0.075)	13.91 (<0.001)	12.27 (<0.001)	9.03 (<0.001)	2.83 (0.061)
Relationship
Parent	3.17±0.58	3.72±0.42	3.61±0.36	3.81±0.25	3.25±0.47
Spouse	2.83±0.40	3.50±0.75	3.38±0.63	3.68±0.65	2.67±0.40
Daughter/son	2.83±0.86	3.62±0.45	3.26±0.41	3.31±0.64	2.72±0.73
Uncle/aunt	3.13±0.16	3.53±0.64	3.02±0.18	3.25±0.27	3.04±0.72
Brother/sister	2.73±1.05	3.44±0.45	3.37±0.54	2.86±−0.86	2.87±0.92
Grandparent	3.40±0.25	3.69±0.27	3.25±0.37	3.67±0.20	2.92±0.63
F-statistic (P-value)	5.04 (<0.001)	1.89 (0.097)	7.71 (<0.001)	13.69 (<0.001)	5.03 (<0.001)
Number of visits
1	3.18±0.68	3.60±0.25	3.32±0.44	3.61±0.25	2.89±0.81
2–3	3.01±0.67	3.65±0.42	3.36±0.42	3.45±0.59	2.84±0.69
>3	2.98±0.82	3.56±0.51	3.30±0.51	3.48±0.65	3.08±0.62
F-statistic (P-value)	0.39 (0.680)	0.88 (0.417)	0.43 (0.653)	0.42 (0.659)	2.91 (0.057)
Consciousness level
Conscious	2.76±1.09	3.48±0.77	3.18±0.77	3.04±1.06	2.92±0.88
Semiconscious	3.08±0.64	3.66±0.32	3.35±0.39	3.54±0.40	2.81±0.75
Unconscious	3.03±0.64	3.63±0.39	3.37±0.36	3.52±0.49	2.96±0.59
F-statistic (P-value)	1.01 (0.101)	1.89 (0.154)	2.35 (0.097)	9.46 (<0.001)	1.24 (0.293)

Note:

* P-value is based on Student’s t-test, and others are based on ANOVA.

Abbreviation: CCFNI, Critical Care Family Needs Inventory.