Physical rehabilitation interventions in the intensive care unit: a scoping review of 117 studies

Table 1 Characteristics of 117 included studies and demographics of included patients

Study characteristics
Countries, n (%)
USA	41 (35)
Australia	17 (15)
Brazil	9 (8)
Belgium	8 (7)
Italy	6 (5)
UK	5 (4)
Taiwan	4 (3)
Greece	3 (3)
Others^a	24 (21)
Number of centers, n studies (%)
Single-center	107 (91)
Multi-center	10 (9)
Median number of centers (first, third quartiles)	5 (5, 14)
ICU type, n (%)
Medical/surgical	22 (19)
Mixed (medical, surgical, cardiovascular, neurological)	22 (19)
Medical	20 (17)
Neurological	15 (13)
Respiratory	9 (8)
Surgical	9 (8)
Cardiovascular	3 (3)
Not reported	17 (15)
Reported Severity of Illness Scale, n studies (%)
APACHE II	58 (50)
APACHE III	7 (6)
SAPS II	3 (3)
SOFA	3 (3)
Others^c	7 (6)
Not reported	38 (32)
Study design, n (%)
Randomized clinical trial^b	39 (33)
Case series	30 (26)
Cohort	25 (21)
Before-after	14 (12)
Two-group comparison	9 (8)
Sample size (enrolled), median (first, third quartiles)
Randomized clinical trial^b	46 (25, 87)
Case series	23 (15, 60)
Cohort	101 (43, 246)
Before-after	141 (80, 582)
Two-group comparison	59 (24, 193)
Overall	57 (25, 112)
Intervention type, n (% of all types)
Progressive mobility	38 (32)
Multicomponent	35 (30)
Passive or active exercise alone	18 (15)
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation	17 (15)
Cycling	8 (7)
Unable to classify	1 (1)
Patient demographics
Age (years) median (first, third quartiles)	59.4 (55.0, 63.9)
Sex (male, n patients (%))	9078 (51)
Admission Diagnosis, n patients (% of total)
Respiratory	2737 (15)
Neurological	2074 (12)
Post-surgical	1891 (11)
Medical	1464 (8)
Cardiovascular	1094 (6)
Sepsis/infection	1024 (6)
Unspecified	4218 (24)
Others^d	504 (3)
Not reported, n studies	15

APACHE II Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, a 13-item instrument with scores from 0 to 71, higher scores representing more severe illness; APACHE III Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III, a prognostic scale with scores from 0 to 299, higher scores indicating a poorer prognosis; SAPS II Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, a 17-item scale with scores from 0 to 163, higher scores representing increased risk of hospital mortality; SOFA Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, a 6-item scale to predict mortality with scores from 6 to 24, higher scores indicate poorer prognosis
^aOther includes China (n = 2), Austria (n = 2), Turkey (n = 2), Germany (n = 1), France (n = 2), Sweden (n = 2), 1 study each from Israel, South Korea, Egypt, South Africa, Japan, Kuwait, Argentina, Denmark, Canada, Zimbabwe, Spain, India, Switzerland
^bRandomized controlled trial includes randomized cross-over designs (n = 3) and within-patient randomized designs (n = 4)
^cOther included Glasgow Coma Scale (n = 3), Simplified Acute Physiology Score III (n = 2), Brunnstrom (n = 1), Injury Severity Score (n = 1), Braden Scale (n = 1)
^dOther includes trauma (n = 397, 2.2%), oncology (n = 41, 0.2%), transplants (n = 43, 0.2%), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or left ventricular assist device support (n = 9, 0.1%), musculoskeletal (n = 11, 0.1%), burns (n = 3, 0.02%)

ISSN: 2052-0492