Abstract Introduction Mental health disorders are a key but underexplored component of the post intensive care syndrome. Prolonged mechanical ventilation, sedation, and isolation contribute to anxiety and depression after critical illness (Rabiee et al., Crit Care Med 2016). In Chile no studies have described the prevalence of post-ICU emotional symptoms using validated screening tools such as the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale (GADS). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in survivors of respiratory intensive care and to explore associations by sex, age and comorbidity. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed in 52 adults 6-12 months after discharge from a respiratory ICU. Inclusion criteria were mechanical ventilation for pneumonia, acute respiratory failure or ARDS. Anxiety and depression were evaluated using GADS (cut-off ≥ 4 and ≥ 2 points, respectively). Prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for sex, age group (65 vs ≥ 65 years), and amount of comorbidity ( 2 vs ≤ 2 chronic disease). Exploratory correlations between Goldberg scores and SF-36 domains were analyzed using Spearman’s ρ. Results The prevalence of anxiety and depression in woman and men was 71% and 73%, respectively. Women exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of anxiety (PR = 1.9; 95% CI, 1.16-3.24) and a nonsignificant trend toward higher depression (PR = 1.5; 95% CI, 0.9-2.6) compared with men. Older adults (≥65 years) showed lower anxiety prevalence (PR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.32-2.15) and a modest increase in depression (PR = 1.36; 95% CI, 0.52-2.92). Patients with 2 comorbidities had a higher prevalence of anxiety (PR = 1.42; 95% CO, 0.8-2.42) but a lower prevalence of depression (PR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.22-2.58). Goldberg anxiety and depression scores correlated negatively with SF-36 vitality (ρ = -0.48; p 0.01) and mental health domain (ρ = -0.51; p 0.01), indicating that emotional symptoms were strongly linked to reduced perceived quality of life. Conclusions Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent among Chilean ICU survivors, affecting more than two-thirds of patients even one year after discharge. These results represent the first national estimates using a validated screening scale. The association between emotional distress and diminished SF-36 vitality domain highlights the need for routine psychological screening, early referral to mental health specialist, and integration of psychiatric and psychological care into post-ICU rehabilitation pathways (Cuthbertson BH, et al. Intensive Care Med 2020; Mikkelsen ME, et al. JAMA 2021). This abstract is funded by: None
Morales et al. (2026) studied this question.