Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background: Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) needing breathing machines are among the sickest in the hospital. These patients often spend much time in bed, which results in severe muscle weakness that can last up to 5 years after patients leave the ICU. One way to help people recover faster is to start exercises early in their ICU stay, even while they are receiving life support. Exercise started in the ICU can help patients get stronger by the time they leave the hospital. We know that exercise with patients in the ICU can improve muscle strength. While many studies examined the effects of exercise with patients in the ICU, there are gaps in the ways these studies report and measure exercise. As a result, we do not know how much exercise patients actually receive. Purpose: The goal of this project is to examine all of the studies of exercise in the ICU, record the types of exercise patients received, and how it was measured. Methods: We will thoroughly review the research on exercise in the ICU and how exercises were reported and measured. We will analyze the data from each of the studies for similarities and differences and summarize this information. Significance: With more people admitted to the ICU, surviving their ICU stay, and at risk for weakness, it is important to help get them back to their lives as quickly as possible. This study will help us to understand how exercise in the ICU is currently reported and measured. This information will give us important knowledge about the types and amounts of exercise received by patients in ICU to guide the development of future ICU exercise studies.