Impact of Physiotherapy on Functional Status and Length of Stay of Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Unit

Early mobilization of patients with critical illness reduces the consequences of extended periods of bed rest and improves self-care functions and quality of life. Early mobilization for mechanically ventilated patients in any ICU prevents patients from a spiral of progressive complications, leading to either nursing home placement or persistent critical illness. Early mobilization of ICU patients has been associated with improved muscle strength and functional independence, a shorter duration of delirium, mechanical ventilation, and ICU length of stay. This study was undertaken to assess the impact of physiotherapy management and early mobilization on Functional Status and Length of Stay in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. An observational study was conducted at a tertiary care university teaching hospital in Mysore, South India, among patients admitted to medical and surgical intensive care units. The patients were assessed, and the patient’s baseline characteristics were recorded. The study subjects were divided into two groups, the intervention and the control groups. There were 71 patients in the intervention group and 67 patients control group. Subjects in the intervention group underwent physiotherapy management and early mobilization. Subjects in the control group did not undergo physiotherapy management and early mobilization. Physiotherapy intervention was given 2-3 times/day, and the outcome measures were the length of stay in ICU and assessment of physical morbidity using the Chelsea Critical Care Physical Assessment Tool (CPAx). The results showed that subjects in the intervention group were weaned from the ventilator support (3.86±3.4 and 5.59 ±4.3, p = 0.005) and oxygen support (5.23±0.99 and 7.48±2.0, p = 0.000) much earlier than the subjects in the control group. The length of ICU stay was significantly less in the intervention group than in the control group (7.71±3.70 days and 11.64±4.8 days with a p-value, p = 0.000). respectively. This study demonstrated that implementation of physiotherapy intervention and early mobilization in critically ill patients undergoing treatment in intensive care unit resulted in early weaning from ventilator support and supplemental oxygen therapy, with improvement in functional status leading to reduced length of ICU stays compared to the patients who were not given physiotherapy intervention and early mobilization.