Families on adult intensive care units: Are they really satisfied? A literature review.

OBJECTIVES

Family satisfaction in intensive care units (ICU) is of increasing relevance for family-centred cared. The objective of this review was to explore the characteristics of studies that have used questionnaires to measure the satisfaction of family members of ICU patients.

REVIEW METHODS

A literature review was performed for studies evaluating family satisfaction in the ICU, independent of design. The following data were obtained for each selected article: publication year, country of origin, design, number of family members, instrument for family satisfaction, instrument score range, response rate, moment at which satisfaction was evaluated, and average level of reported satisfaction.

DATA SOURCES

The following databases were systematically searched: PubMed, CINAHL, ProQuest Nursing, ProQuest Social Science, ProQuest Psychology, Science Direct, PsycINFO, LILACS, and Scielo.

RESULTS

Thirty-seven articles met inclusion criteria, showing high levels of family satisfaction. Among these, nine different questionnaires were identified. In 31.6% of the studies, family satisfaction was evaluated during the ICU stay, whereas 36.9% did not report the evaluation moment. The mean response rate was 65.5%, and response rates greater than 70% were found only in 28.2% of the studies.

CONCLUSIONS

High satisfaction levels among family members of ICU patients must be contextualised in light of questionnaire heterogeneity, low response rates, and variability in the moment at which family satisfaction is evaluated. The creation of methodological standards for evaluating and reporting family satisfaction could facilitate comparing results between investigations in this field.