Assessment of Respiratory Functions, Activities of Daily Living, and Quality of Life of the Post-mechanical Ventilated Patients

Background: The fundamental goal of mechanical ventilation is to restore and improve respiratory functions and relieve respiratory distress, thus permitting lungs and airways to heal in acute and chronic respiratory failure conditions. Associated post-mechanical ventilation complications may increase the chance of re-intubation, poor quality of life, hospital stay and hospital costs, and so on. Objective: To assess the respiratory functions, activities of daily living, and quality of life of the post-mechanical ventilated patients. Methods: Using a purposive sampling technique, 72 patients after 24 h of weaning from the ventilator were enrolled in the study. Their socio-demographic profile, respiratory functions, activities of daily living, and quality of life were assessed using validated tools. Results: The mean respiratory rate per minute and oxygen saturation were 21.69 ± 4.10 and 93.58 ± 3.73, respectively. A total of 58.9% of the patients had dyspnea, 18.1% had abnormal breathing sound, 22.3% were using accessory muscles during breathing, 20.9% had pain during breathing, and 18.1% had cough with sputum production after extubation. Three fourth of the patients had complete dependency (75%) to perform activities of daily living. More than half (59.8%) of the patients had good quality of life scores as per the SF-36 item scale. Conclusion: There is a need to plan nursing interventions for patients in order to decrease post-mechanical ventilation complications.