Intensive Care Units of a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Detailed Study of Patient Symptomatology

Introduction Nosocomial infection (NI) is a factor of considerable significance in determining the morbidity and mortality of patients admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs). Our aim was to study the frequencies of various symptoms that might emerge due to nosocomial infection (NI) among ICU patients. Materials and methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted in intensive care units of General Medicine, General Surgery and Paediatric wards in Ruth M. Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, Pakistan, using well-structured questionnaire created after a thorough literature study. Patients who had an ICU admission for more than five days but less than two weeks were set as the inclusion criteria. The remaining patients were excluded from the study. Results Among the patients who developed gastrointestinal disturbances while in the intensive units, loss of appetite had the highest ratio in the paediatric ICU, whereas vomiting was most prevalent in the surgical ICU and weight loss was the most recurring symptom in the medical ICU. With regard to the respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms, dyspnea stood out in medicine ICU while fatigue was the most evident symptom amidst the paediatrics and surgical ICU patients. Insomnia was the most common neuropsychiatric symptom in the surgical and paediatric ICUs. Insomnia also paralleled tremors frequently in the medical ICU. Conclusion Infections in patients under intensive care in a tertiary care setup are not restricted to a specific type but present variously, as indicated by the type of symptoms the patients develop during their stay.