Background Many studies have compared quality of life of post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) patients with age-matched population-based controls. Many studies on PICS used the 36-item Short Form (SF-36) health survey questionnaire version 2, but lack the data for SF-36 values before and after intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Thus, clinically important changes in the parameters of SF-36 are unknown. Therefore, we determined the frequency of co-occurrence of PICS impairments at 6 months after ICU admission. We also evaluated the changes in SF-36 subscales and interpreted the patients’ subjective significance of impairment. Methods A prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study was conducted in 16 ICUs across 14 hospitals in Japan. Adult ICU patients expected to receive mechanical ventilation for > 48 h were enrolled, and their 6-month outcome was assessed using the questionnaires. PICS definition was based on the physical status, indicated by the change in SF-36 physical component score (PCS) ≥ 10 points; mental status, indicated by the change in SF-36 mental component score (MCS) ≥ 10 points; and cognitive function, indicated by the worsening of Short-Memory Questionnaire (SMQ) score and SMQ score at 6 months < 40. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with PICS occurrence. The patients’ subjective significance of physical and mental symptoms was assessed using the 7-scale Global Assessment Rating to evaluate minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Results Among 192 patients, 48 (25%) died at 6 months. Among the survivors at 6 months, 96 patients responded to the questionnaire; ≥ 1 PICS impairment occurred in 61 (63.5%) patients, and ≥ 2 occurred in 17 (17.8%) patients. Physical, mental, and cognitive impairments occurred in 32.3%, 14.6% and 37.5% patients, respectively. Population with only mandatory education was associated with PICS occurrence (odds ratio: 4.0, 95% CI 1.1–18.8, P = 0.029). The MCID of PCS and MCS scores was 6.5 and 8.0, respectively. Conclusions Among the survivors who received mechanical ventilation, 64% had PICS at 6 months; co-occurrence of PICS impairments occurred in 20%. PICS was associated with population with only mandatory education. Future studies elucidating the MCID of SF-36 scores among ICU patients and standardizing the PICS definition are required. Trial registration UMIN000034072.

Recent empirical studies revealed that fostering patients' perception of meaning in their life is an essential task for palliative care clinicians. However, few studies have reported the effects of training programs for nurses specifically aimed at improving skills to relieve the meaninglessness of terminally ill cancer patients, and we have had no specific measurement instruments. The primary aims of this study were 1) to validate measurement tools to quantify nurses' self-reported practice and attitudes toward caring for terminally ill cancer patients feeling meaninglessness and 2) to explore the effects of the five-hour educational workshop focusing on meaninglessness on nurses' self-reported practice, attitudes toward caring for such patients, confidence, burnout, death anxiety, and meaning of life. A quasi-experimental pre-post questionnaire survey was performed on 147 nurses. The questionnaire was distributed before the intervention workshop and one and six months after. The workshop consisted of lecture, role-play, and the exercise of assessment and care planning based on two vignette verbatim records. First, using the first questionnaire sample and an additional sample of 20 nurses for the test-retest examination, we validated a six-item Self-Reported Practice scale, and an eight-item Attitudes Toward Caring for Patients Feeling Meaninglessness scale with three subscales (Willingness to Help, Positive Appraisal, and Helplessness). The nurses also completed a scale to assess confidence in caring for terminally ill patients with meaninglessness, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Death Attitude Inventory, the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying scale, the Self-Reported Practice Score in General Communication, and the three pain-related items from the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing. For the Self-Reported Practice scale and the subscales of the Attitudes Toward Caring for Patients Feeling Meaninglessness scale, the Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.63-0.91, and the intra-class correlations were 0.89-0.94. The Self-Reported Practice scale significantly, but moderately, correlated with the Self-Reported Practice Score in General Communication (P=0.41). The Willingness to Help and Helplessness subscales significantly but weakly correlated with the Frommelt scale (P=-0.27, 0.21). Both scales did not correlate or minimally correlated with the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (P<0.20). The construct validity was confirmed using factor analysis. At the follow-up, of 147 nurses who participated in this workshop, 91 (62%) and 80 (54%) nurses responded. Self-reported practice and confidence significantly improved, whereas helplessness, emotional exhaustion, and death anxiety significantly decreased. The percentages of nurses who evaluated this program as "useful" or "very useful" were 79% (to understand the conceptual framework in caring for terminally ill patients with meaninglessness), 73% (to help in self-disclosing nurses' personal beliefs, values, and life goals), and 80% (to help in learning how to p...