Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although people receiving invasive home mechanical ventilation through a tracheostomy are facing both physical and mental health challenges, healthcare services often focus mainly on physical symptoms. To ensure well-functioning treatment and care for people receiving tracheostomy ventilation in a home setting, their mental health needs to be promoted and seen as an integral part of their health in general. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aimed to provide a summary of the current knowledge on the mental health of people receiving invasive home mechanical ventilation through a tracheostomy. DESIGN: A scoping review of published and gray literature based on the framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley and refined by the JBI was performed. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist was used for reporting the findings. METHODS: A literature search was conducted by two researchers independently in the PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases. Additional searches for gray literature were conducted in Google, Google Scholar, websites of selected organisations, and the reference lists of included studies. The software system Covidence was used in the study selection process. For critical appraisal, the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used. RESULTS: Thirteen studies were included in this review, of which six used qualitative, six quantitative, and one mixed methods. The majority of studies were authored in Europe (n = 10), followed by the Americas (n = 2) and the Western Pacific (n = 1). Mental health was investigated both directly and indirectly (61.5% vs. 38.5%). Categorizing the reported mental health outcomes, we found that emotional well-being was reported widely across the studies (n = 13), while psychological well-being (n = 5) and social well-being (n = 4) were less widely reported. CONCLUSIONS: The mental health of people receiving home tracheostomy ventilation has received some scholarly attention. A heterogeneity of mental health outcomes was reported in the literature with emotional well-being being an important mental health area both in relation to the sub-components positive affect and quality of life appraisal. Mental health outcomes in relation to psychological well-being and social well-being were fragmented and only sparsely investigated.