The effect of care dependency status of intensive care patients on their activities of daily living Care dependency status of intensive care patients on their activities of daily living

Aim: Care dependency is defined as the patient's need for professional support, a decrease in meeting the self-care needs and his/her need for care according to dependency [1]. Material and Method: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of care dependency status of intensive care patients on their activities of daily living. The sample of the study consists of 75 intensive care patients hospitalized in internal medicine intensive care unit of a hospital. Results: Of the patients included in the study, 45.3% (n: 34) were females and 54.7% (n: 41) were males. The care dependency averages of ICU patients according to the age groups were found to be 63.18 +/- 18.47 for the 20-40 age group, 52.70 +/- 22.64 for the 41-60 age group, and 40.54 +/- 21.35 for the 61-87 age group. The mean scores of the activities of daily living scale were found to be 14.36 +/- 2.61 for the 20-40 age group, 12.45 +/- 3.06 for the 41-60 age group, and 6.93 +/- 1.83 for the 61-87 age group. According to the results of the study, it was determined that intensive care patients were partially dependent on performing their activities of daily living. Discussion: It was determined that care dependency of intensive care patients increases as their activities of daily living decrease. Care dependency levels of patients in meeting their activities of daily living can be evaluated by nurses regularly by using the scales, and individual interventions can be planned to reduce their levels of dependency.