The BRAIN Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Study: Bringing to Light the Risk Factors

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients will be included if they are adult, patients in a medical and/or surgical ICU receiving treatment for any of the following: respiratory failure or cardiogenic or septic shock. Exclusion Criteria: Patients who meet the inclusion criteria will be excluded if they meet any of the following criteria: * Cumulative ICU time \>5 days in the past 30 days, not including the current ICU stay, as this might create a state of flux regarding patients' cognitive baseline * Severe cognitive or neurodegenerative diseases that prevent a patient from living independently at baseline, including mental illness requiring institutionalization, acquired or congenital mental retardation, known brain lesions, traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular accidents with resultant moderate to severe cognitive deficits or ADL dependency, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, severe Alzheimer's disease or dementia of any etiology * ICU admission post cardiopulmonary resuscitation with suspected anoxic injury * An active substance abuse or psychotic disorder, or a recent (within the past 6 months) serious suicidal gesture necessitating hospitalization. This exclusion will enrich follow-up rates by avoiding patients with whom it is particularly challenging to maintain long-term contact * Blind, deaf, or unable to speak English, as these conditions would preclude our ability to perform the follow-up evaluation interviews. * Overly moribund and not expected to survive for an…