Background Relocation stress is common among the families of patients transferred from intensive care units.However,few studies investigated the factors associated with relocation stress for the families of patients after cardiac valvular and aortic surgery.The objective of this study was to investigate the relocation stress status and associated factors in the family members of patients transferred out of the intensive care unit (ICU) after car-diac valvular and aortic surgery.Methods A total of 120 family members of patients,who were successfully transferred out of ICU after cardiac valvular and aortic surgery from October 2020 to February 2021 in our institu-tion,were included.Their demographic characteristics,clinical characteristics and relocation stress assessment re-sults were collected.Risk factors for relocation stress were investigated using linear regression models.Results The overall mean scores of our research subjects on relocation stress was 55.68±4.658.Univariate analysis and multivariable linear regression analysis revealed that family members\' age,patients\' residence,and duration of ICU stay were risk factors of post-ICU relocation stress in family members of patients after cardiac valvular and aortic surgery (P＜0.05).Conclusions The relocation stress in family members of patients transferred from ICU after cardiac valvular and aortic surgery was moderate to high.Younger age of family members,patients living in rural areas,and longer duration of ICU stay are associated with a higher level of relocation stress.Healthcare pro-viders should concern the relocation stress in family members of patients transferred from ICU after cardiac val-vular and aortic surgery,and appropriate intervention measures should be carried out.