Home and Community-Based Physical Therapist Management of Adults With Post-Intensive Care Syndrome.

More than 4 million adults survive a stay in the intensive care unit each year, with many experiencing new or worsening physical disability, mental health problems, and/or cognitive impairments, known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Given the prevalence and magnitude of physical impairments after critical illness, many survivors, including those recovering from COVID-19, could benefit from physical therapist services after hospital discharge. However, due to the relatively recent recognition and characterization of PICS, there may be limited awareness and understanding of PICS among physical therapists practicing in home health care and community-based settings. This lack of awareness may lead to inappropriate and/or inadequate rehabilitation service provision. While this perspective article provides information relevant to all physical therapists, it is aimed toward those providing rehabilitation services outside of the acute and postacute inpatient settings. This article reports the prevalence and clinical presentation of PICS and provides recommendations for physical examination and outcomes measures, plan of care, and intervention strategies. The importance of providing patient and family education, coordinating community resources including referring to other health care team members, and community-based rehabilitation service options is emphasized. Finally, this perspective article discusses current challenges for optimizing outcomes for people with PICS and suggests future directions for research and practice.

Impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions experienced in the first year following a critical illness: protocol for a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Critical illness requiring intensive care unit (ICU) management is a life-altering event with ∼25% of ICU survivors experiencing persistent reductions in physical functioning, impairments in mental health, cognitive dysfunction and decreased quality of life. This constellation of problems is known as 'postintensive care syndrome' (PICS) and may persist for months and/or years. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the scope and magnitude of physical problems associated with PICS during the first year after discharge from ICU, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework to elucidate the impairments of body functions and structures, activity limitations and participation restrictions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Medline (Ovid), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Ovid), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Ovid), PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science and EMBASE will be systematically searched for observational studies reporting the physical impairments of body functions and structures, activity limitations and participation restrictions associated with PICS. Two reviewers will assess the articles for eligibility according to prespecified selection criteria, after which an independent reviewer will perform data extraction which will be validated by a second independent reviewer. Quality appraisal will be performed by two independent reviewers. Outcomes of the included studies will be summarised in tables and in narrative format and meta-analyses will be conducted where appropriate. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Formal ethical approval is not required as no primary data is collected. This systematic review will identify the scope and magnitude of physical problems associated with PICS during the first year after discharge from ICU and will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and at conference meetings, to inform practice and future research on the physical problems associated with PICS. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42015023520.