Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-1-20
pubmed:abstractText
Families of critically ill patients consistently rate visiting and being near their relative as very important. However, the costs incurred by families whilst visiting have received little attention. This study investigated the personal costs to informal caregivers (families, relatives and friends) visiting critically ill patients in an intensive care unit (ICU). The purpose of the study was (1) to test the feasibility of collecting data from informal caregivers visiting critically ill relatives and (2) to estimate the personal costs incurred by them. Data were collected by self-completed questionnaires over a 2-week period on out-of-pocket expenses and time foregone. RESULTS: One hundred and seven informal caregivers were invited to participate in the study. Fifty-four completed the questionnaire (response 50%). Forty-eight percent of respondents were male and 52% female. Fifty-nine percent of participants were in paid employment, and of these 16% lost wages as a result of the visit. The mean cost of time foregone was 46.21 pounds sterlings /visit (66.92 US dollars) and mean out-of-pocket expenses 29.30 pounds sterlings (42.43 US dollars). CONCLUSION: It is feasible to collect data on expenses and time foregone from informal caregivers visiting the ICU. The main out-of-pocket expense was that related to travel. More empirical work is needed across different settings to obtain more generalisable estimates of out-of-pocket expenses and time foregone.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
N
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0964-3397
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
22
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
40-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Adolescent, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Adult, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Aged, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Attitude to Health, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Cost of Illness, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Data Collection, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-England, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Family, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Feasibility Studies, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Female, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Financing, Personal, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Friends, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Intensive Care, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Male, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Middle Aged, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Pilot Projects, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Prospective Studies, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Questionnaires, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Salaries and Fringe Benefits, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Sensitivity and Specificity, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Time Factors, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Travel, pubmed-meshheading:16325407-Visitors to Patients
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Visiting adult patients in intensive care: the importance of relatives' travel and time costs.
pubmed:affiliation
Health Economics Group, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. m.thalanany@uea.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't