Discharge biomarkers and probable posttraumatic stress symptoms in intensive care unit survivors: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND Post-traumatic stress symptoms are an important component of postintensive care syndrome after critical illness.Serum cortisol, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein (CRP) have been proposed as markers of later psychological vulnerability, but their joint association and apparent discrimination for subsequent Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R)-defined symptoms in Chinese intensive care unit (ICU) survivors remain uncertain.AIM To describe observed IES-R-defined probable post-traumatic stress symptom screening positivity during 12 months of follow-up and to explore associations and apparent discrimination of ICU-discharge cortisol, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and CRP in a single-center retrospective cohort. METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed 186 adult ICU survivors discharged between January 2020 and December 2023.Cortisol, IL-6, and CRP were measured within 24 hours of ICU discharge.IES-R assessments were scheduled at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months.An IES-R total score ≥ 33 at any available follow-up visit was treated as screening positivity for probable post-traumatic stress symptoms.Seventy-two participants were ever screen-positive; 114 had no observed screening positivity in their available follow-up record.The model and biomarker cutpoints were derived and evaluated in the same single-center sample. RESULTSAmong 186 analyzed survivors, 72 (38.7%) were ever IES-R screenpositive during the available follow-up record.The ever-positive survivors: A retrospective cohort study.