6533b85efe1ef96bd12c08aa

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Variation in communication and family visiting policies in intensive care within and between countries during the Covid-19 pandemic: The COVISIT international survey

Alexis TabahMuhammed ElhadiEmma BallardAndrea CortegianiMaurizio CecconiTakeshi UnokiLaurą GalarzaRegis Goulart RosaFrancois BarbierElie AzoulayKevin B. LauplandNathalie Ssi Yan KaiMarlies OstermannGuy FrancoisJan J. De WaeleKirsten FiestPeter SpronkJulie BenbenishtyMariangela PellegriniLouise RoseMahesh RamananRachel BaileyIrmgard E. KronbergerAnis CerovacWendy SliglJasminka PeršecEddy Lincango-naranjoNermin OsmanYousef TanasYomna DeanAhmed Mohamed AbbasMohamed Gamal ElbahnasawyEslam Mohamed ElshennawyOmar ElmandouhFatima Hamed AhmedDespoina KoulentiIoannis TsakiridisMohan GurjarMarilaeta CindryaniAta MahmoodpoorHogir Imad Rasheed AldawoodyFrancesco ZuccaroPasquale IozzoMariachiara IppolitoYukiko KatayamaTomoki KuribaraSatoko MiyazakiAsami NakayamaAkira OuchiHideaki SakuramotoMitsuhiro TamotoToru YamadaHashem Abdulaziz Abu SerhanSaqr Ghaleb Ghassab AlsakarnehZhannur KaligozhinDmitriy VidermanLina KaroutMohd Shahnaz HasanAndee Dzulkarnaen ZakariaSilvio A. ÑAmendys-silvaLajpat RaiAntonio Thaddeus R. AbelloPedro PovoaDana TomescuEvgeniy S DrozdovAlberto Orejas GallegoUrsula M. Jariod-ferrerBernardo Nuñez-garçiaAhmed Mohamed Ibrahim MohamedAbram Raymon Moneer GeorgeMarie-madlen JeitzinerKemal Tolga SaracogluArda IsikAbdullah Tarik AslanTomasz Torlinski

subject

Critical CareCommunicationCOVID-19Visitors to PatientsCritical Care and Intensive Care MedicineOrganizational PolicyIntensive Care UnitsPolicyIntensive careRestrictionHumansFamilyPandemicsvisiting restriction intensive careVisiting

description

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, intensive care units (ICU) introduced restrictions to in-person family visiting to safeguard patients, healthcare personnel, and visitors. Methods: We conducted a web-based survey (March– July 2021) investigating ICU visiting practices before the pandemic, at peak COVID-19 ICU admissions, and at the time of survey response. We sought data on visiting pol icies and communication modes including use of virtual visiting (videoconferencing). Results: We obtained 667 valid responses representing ICUs in all continents. Before the pandemic, 20% (106/ 525) had unrestricted visiting hours ; 6% (30/525) did not allow in-person visiting. At peak, 84% (558/667) did not allow in-person visiting for patients with COVID-19 ; 66% for patients without COVID-19. This proportion had decreased to 55% (369/667) at time of survey reporting. A government mandate to restrict hospital visiting was reported by 53% (354/646). Most ICUs (55%, 353/615) used regular telephone updates ; 50% (306/667) used telephone for formal meetings and discussions regarding prognosis or end-of-life. Virtual visiting was available in 63% (418/667) at time of survey. Conclusions: Highly restrictive visiting policies were introduced at the initial pandemic peaks, were subsequently liberalized, but without returning to pre-pandemic practices. Telephone became the primary communication mode in most ICUs, supplemented with virtual visits.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2022-10-01
10.1016/j.jcrc.2022.154050http://hdl.handle.net/10447/554380