The sex gap among visitors during flexible intensive care unit visiting hours - Critical Care Science (CCS)

Dear Editor,

Flexible intensive care unit (ICU) visiting hours are increasingly recognized as a means of enhancing patient- and family-centered care.^(,) In addition to being safe and associated with better patient and family outcomes,^(,) flexible visiting hours are an important approach to acknowledging and showing respect for the patient-family relationship during the course of critical illness.^(,) In this context, knowledge of visitor characteristics is essential to determining the best way to support them and to promote the sustainability of flexible visitation models (FVMs). Particularly, the assessment of sex differences among visitors is necessary, since gender-specific factors may influence the demand for tailored communication strategies, the sharing of the decision-making process, and the prevention of psychological burdens. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the existence of a sex gap among visitors of critically ill adult patients during an FVM.

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