While the short-term outcomes of ICU patients have dramatically improved over the last half-century, it is increasingly recognized that many ICU survivors experience declines in physical and cognitive functioning that persist well beyond their acute hospitalization. Psychiatric sequelae, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also prevalent among both ICU survivors and their family members. Attendees of a 2010 meeting of the Society of Critical Care Medicine coined the term Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) to describe new and persistent declines in physical, cognitive, and mental health functioning that follow an ICU stay and for which other causes, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), have been excluded. The term PICS-F is applied to the close family members of ICU patients who experience subsequent adverse mental health outcomes, the most common of which are sleep deprivation, anxiety, depression, and complicated grief.

The quality and number of post-ICU PTSD studies has increased over time, and we can be more confident in the accumulated findings. Evidence from both periods suggests that up to 27% of ICU survivors suffer from PTSD. There is also increasing evidence that use of benzodiazepines and duration of sedation, along with fear, stress and delirium in the ICU are likely risk factors for subsequent PTSD.

According to a medical report by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), millions of patients are usually admitted to ICU annually in which a third of this population require a ventilator for breathing purposes. They are critically ill and after leaving the ICU, most of them develop health complications related to their injury, illness, ventilator and other treatments. In most cases, such issues are hardly treated and continue after a patient leaves the health sector. Notably, sepsis, delirium, and respiratory distress syndrome may increase the chances of a person experiencing these health issues. There has been an advancement of healthcare with a motive of improving outcomes for these patients as well as their recovery.