Abstract
BACKGROUND: Discomfort perceived by patients during an intensive care unit (ICU) stay may limit their function, well-being, and quality of life after their stay. This study creates a comprehensive questionnaire (EXPRIM) able to distinguish and quantify the recollection of discomfort and emotional suffering experienced during a stay in an ICU stay, and to assess its performance. METHOD: The measurement properties of the questionnaire were tested in a first sample of 50 patients recruited between February and July 2024 in a tertiary ICU, using internal consistency, test-retest reliability, standard error of measurement (SEM), and construct validity. Content validity was also tested, in a second sample of 20 patients and 10 ICU healthcare providers recruited between April and June 2024 in a regional ICU, using face-to-face qualitative interviews based on a semi-structured interview guide assessing comprehensibility, relevance and comprehensiveness of the instruction and items. RESULTS: EXPRIM is a 30-item questionnaire developed in French and translated in English. Its total score ranges from 0 to 10, reflecting the weighting of discomfort versus suffering. The internal consistency was very good (Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.81). The intra- and inter-examinator reliabilities were excellent (Intraclass Coefficient Correlation = 0.875 and 0.858, respectively). SEM ranged from -0.071 to 0.035. Good correlations were found between EXPRIM and other questionnaires measuring similar concepts. There was good evidence of content validity to explore recollection of the ICU stay. CONCLUSIONS: The EXPRIM questionnaire is a new tool with excellent psychometric properties to quantitatively assess the ICU experiences survivors recall after discharge. It is a promising tool to explore the extent of discomfort and emotional suffering during an ICU stay and to compare experiences between patients or populations.