Programme Hospitalier Recherche Clinique, Institut Pasteur, Inserm, French Public Health Agency.

HFNC has a beneficial effect on clinical signs and oxygenation in ICU patients with acute respiratory failure. These favorable results constitute a prerequisite to launching a randomized controlled study to investigate whether HFNC reduces intubation in these patients.

Quality of life measured with a health-related quality of life scale and a satisfaction scale 6 months after an ICU stay depended on the admission diagnosis. Different dimensions of quality of life were variably affected.