Effect of intensive care unit diary on quality of life of intensive care unit survivors and their relatives: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: To evaluate the current literature on the effect of ICU diaries on the quality of life of ICU survivors and their relatives.
Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods: We searched the online databases Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI and WanFang from inception to April 2021. Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) were used to assess the methodological quality.
Results: Seven studies were identified. ICU diaries improved the QoL of ICU survivors (SMD 0.79, 95% CI 0.24-1.34), and a small study described no benefit of diaries in improving the QoL of relatives.
Conclusion: This meta-analysis revealed the use of ICU diaries to improve the QoL in survivors, but the ICU diaries do not have a beneficial effect on the QoL in relatives. The evidence summarized in our study is limited and biased, and more research should be carried out to verify it.
(© 2023 The Authors. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)