ICU sedation, delirium & recovery
Household Income Decline and Job Loss Among Survivors of Critical Illness: A Nationwide Cohort Study
Authors' conclusion
Critical illness is associated with progressive socioeconomic deterioration characterized primarily by financial polarization.
Study context
- Population
- Adult ICU survivors, Korea, January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022 (universal health coverage); excluded death within 1 year or missing data
- Participants
- 582,341 survivors
- Exposure
- Post-ICU vs pre-ICU years
- Outcome
- Change in household income level (scale 0-20) between pre-ICU and post-ICU years
Methodological detailsnationwide, Korean National Health Insurance Service database, generalized estimating equation models
- Nationwide
- Korean National Health Insurance Service database
- Generalized estimating equation models
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Household income rank, overall cohort
1-yr ratio of means (RoM)
0.994
2-yr RoM
0.976
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Household income rank, highest income quartile (Q4) (subgroup)
- RoM
- 0.935
- Relative drop in mean rank
- 6.5%
Household income rank, lowest quartile (Q1) (subgroup)
- RoM
- 2.198
- Relative stability due to a "floor effect" and transitions into the social safety net
Income decline (descriptive)
- Survivors with income decline
- 160,682 (27.6%)
- Survivors with catastrophic decline
- 60,432 (10.4%)
No longer employed among previously employed survivors (n = 326,125) · within 1 year
- No longer employed
- 12.3%
Original publication
Household Income Decline and Job Loss Among Survivors of Critical Illness: A Nationwide Cohort Study. Crit Care Med. Published 6 May 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →