3 months after discharge from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and determine the impact of different components of PICS-P upon caregiver burden.
Design: A prospective observational study was conducted over 26 months (January 2013---February 2015).
Setting: Medical-surgical ICU and follow-up consultation in Portugal.
Patients or participants: Patients discharged after a minimum of 2 days in the ICU. Caregiver inclusion criteria: not paid, written and spoken Portuguese, and agreement to participate in the study.
Main variables of interest: In ICU: Patient gender, age, severity of illness (SAPS II) and length of ICU stay. At 3 months caregiver burden, physical (reduced mobility, weakness acquired in the ICU) and psychological components of PICS (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder).
Results: A total of 168 caregivers completed the survey (response rate of 69%). A low degree of overburden was reported by 34.5% of caregivers, while 15.5% showed moderate to high levels of overburden.
Patient anxiety and depression 3 months after ICU discharge significantly influenced the presence of caregiver burden (p = 0.030 vs p = 0.008).
When physical components of PICS-P were evaluated, no influence on caregiver burden was observed. Patient demographics, severity of illness and length of stay also failed to influence caregiver burden.
Conclusions: The presence of psychological components of PICS-P 3 months after ICU seems to have a negative impact upon caregiver burden. On the other hand, physical problems showed no important impact upon caregiver overburden.

Survival of critically unwell patients has improved in the last decade due to advances in critical care medicine. Some of these survivors develop cognitive, psychiatric and /or physical disability after treatment in intensive care unit (ICU), which is now recognized as post intensive care syndrome (PICS). Given the limited awareness about PICS in the medical faculty this aspect is often overlooked which may lead to reduced quality of life and cause a lot of suffering of these patients and their families. Efforts should be directed towards preventing PICS by minimizing sedation and early mobilization during ICU.All critical care survivors should be evaluated for PICS and those having signs and symptoms of it should be managed by a multidisciplinary team which includes critical care physician, neuro-psychiatrist, physiotherapist and respiratory therapist,with the use of pharmacological and non-apharmacological interventions. This can be achieved through an organizational change and improvement, knowing the high rate of incidence of PICS and its adverse effects on the survivor’s life and daily activities and its effect on the survivor’s family. Key words: cognition, critical illness, intensive care, syndrome

Researchers are still trying to understand everything that Ronan and other COVID-19 patients need to let them move on with their lives after being in the ICU. Mysteries abound, but the groundwork laid by Sevin, Needham, Weinhouse, and others has provided a solid foundation on which to build.