The mediating role of anxiety and depression for family members of ICU patients in perceived social support and fatigue / 中华内科杂志

ABSTRACT

To analyze the mediating role of anxiety and depression in perceived social support and fatigue in ICU patients′ families, and to provide a theoretical evidence for alleviating their fatigue status. A total of 223 family members of ICU patients who received treatment at the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University from October 2020 to April 2021 were selected as the study subjects. The general data questionnaire, perceived social support scale (PSSS), generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7), patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and fatigue assessment instrument (FAI) were used to conduct a survey. Among 223 family members of ICU patients, 155(69.51%) had fatigue problems. There were statistically significant differences in total fatigue scores of ICU patients′ family members in terms of gender, age, education level, relationship with patients, residence, payment method and per capita monthly income ( P<0.05). Anxiety, depression and fatigue were negatively correlated with perceived social support ( r are -0.353, -0.276 and -0.416, respectively, all P<0.01). Depression and fatigue were positively correlated with anxiety ( r are 0.808 and 0.703, respectively, all P<0.01), and fatigue was also positively correlated with depression ( r= 0.665, P<0.01). Anxiety and depression had a partial mediating effect on perceived social support and fatigue, and the total indirect effect size was 52.64%. Comprehensive intervention on the level of social support, anxiety and depression is helpful to improve the fatigue status of ICU patients′ family members.