Physical Rehabilitation Programmes Following ICU Discharge

Abstract

Physical rehabilitation programmes have face validity for their delivery following ICU discharge given the plethora of symptoms and disability experienced by patients and their families/carers as part of the post-intensive care syndrome. While improvements in muscle strength and physical function have been reported at hospital discharge, the majority of evidence reported to date demonstrates that these programmes are not effective in improving longer-term outcomes following critical illness. Future studies must be designed to accommodate clear definitions of meaningful change, consider and recruit clinical phenotypes that are likely to respond to rehabilitation and improve equity in access a..