Preventive effects of early mobilisation on delirium incidence in critically ill patients: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To evaluate whether early mobilisation can reduce the incidence of delirium in critically ill patients and to assess the methodological quality of published studies.

Methods: Three electronic databases, PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library, were searched for relevant studies published up to 2 March 2024. Articles were screened independently by two reviewers, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software with a random-effects model.

Results: A total of 18 studies (intervention group: 1794 participants, control group: 2129 participants) were included in the systematic review, with 18 studies included in the meta-analysis. Early mobilisation was found to reduce the risk of delirium in critically ill populations, with a pooled odds ratio of 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49-0.86; P = 0.003; I² = 59%). Additionally, two studies found that early mobilisation did not change the duration of delirium in critically ill populations, with a pooled mean difference of -1.53 (95% CI -3.48 to 0.41; P = 0.12; I² = 37%). Subgroup analysis revealed that early mobilisation maintained its preventive effect on delirium in the before/after intervention studies, studies published before 2018 and studies with a moderate methodological rating.

Conclusion: As a nonpharmacological intervention, early mobilisation may help reduce the risk of delirium and shorten its duration in critically ill patients compared with standard treatment and may potentially become a novel strategy for delirium prevention in future intensive care unit settings.