Merve Bulun YEDİYILDIZ, İrem DURMUŞ, Irmak ÇİMENOĞLU
Medical Science and Discovery - 2026;13(9):301-310
Objective: Relatives of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) may experience substantial psychological distress during critical illness. This study aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety and family satisfaction among relatives of ICU patients and to identify factors associated with family satisfaction. Methods: This cross-sectional study with prospective participant enrolment and data collection was conducted in the Reanimation Intensive Care Unit of Tuzla State Hospital. Relatives of patients hospitalized in the ICU for at least 48 hours were screened consecutively and assessed approximately 72 hours after ICU admission. Anxiety was assessed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), which captures symptoms during the preceding week, while family satisfaction was evaluated using the Turkish Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit-24 (FS-ICU-24). Sociodemographic and family-related variables associated with family satisfaction were also examined. Results: A total of 150 family members were included. BAI scores were negatively correlated with FS-ICU total, care, and decision-making scores (all p<0.001). In the revised multivariable model using categorical indicator variables and including economic status and kinship, higher BAI scores remained associated with lower FS-ICU scores, while having two or more other caregivers was associated with higher satisfaction. Educational level and kinship showed overall associations with FS-ICU score, whereas the same-city association was attenuated after broader adjustment. Conclusion: Greater recent anxiety symptom burden among relatives of ICU patients was associated with lower family satisfaction in this single-center cross-sectional sample. Because the BAI recall period partly preceded ICU admission and anxiety and satisfaction were measured at the same early assessment, these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects. Family satisfaction may reflect perceptions of care together with psychological burden and family circumstances during critical illness.
