Association between intensive care unit admission of a patient and mental disorders in the spouse: a retrospective matched-pair cohort study

BACKGROUND: Previous prospective studies have suggested that spouses of patients who are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have a high prevalence of mental disorders, termed post-intensive care syndrome-family (PICS-F). However, it remains unclear whether the patient’s ICU admission is associated with the occurrence of mental disorders in the spouse outside of the prospective study setting. We therefore investigated the proportion of ICU patients’ spouses who visited medical facilities for mental disorders and the association between ICU admission of a patient and mental disorders in the spouse using real-world data. METHODS: This was a retrospective matched-pair cohort study using commercially available, routinely collected administrative claims data. As the study population, we identified all married couples (both wife and husband) who were registered in the database from 1 April 2012 to 31 August 2018 using family identification codes. We identified spouses of patients who were admitted to the ICU for more than 2 days as the exposure group and defined the date of admission to the ICU as the index date. We randomly matched four individuals in the non-exposure group with one individual in the exposure group. The primary outcome was any PICS-F–related mental disorder in the spouses within 6 months from the index date. As a sensitivity analysis, we also investigated the proportion and association of individuals (excluding spouses) with a history of mental disorders. RESULTS: Among 1,082,208 married couples, we identified 8490 spouses of ICU patients, and they were matched with 33,946 individuals. The proportion of any PICS-F–related mental disorder within 6 months from the index date was 12.8% in ICU patients’ spouses and 11.3% in the matched individuals (adjusted odds ratio, 1.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–1.42). The sensitivity analysis showed significant associations between ICU admission and spouses’ mental disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Spouses of patients who were admitted to the ICU had a slightly higher risk of mental disorders within 6 months than spouses of patients who were not admitted to the ICU. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40560-021-00583-3.