Decline in functional status after intensive care unit discharge is associated with ICU readmission: a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To compare the functional status at intensive care unit (ICU) discharge of patients who were later readmitted to the ICU and patients discharged home and to verify whether a decline in functional status is associated with ICU readmission.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: ICU at a tertiary teaching hospital.

Relationship between availability of physiotherapy services and ICU costs.

Objective: To determine whether 24-h availability of physiotherapy services decreases ICU costs in comparison with the standard 12 h/day availability among patients admitted to the ICU for the first time.

Methods: This was an observational prevalence study involving 815 patients ≥ 18 years of age who had been on invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) for ≥ 24 h and were discharged from an ICU to a ward at a tertiary teaching hospital in Brazil. The patients were divided into two groups according to h/day availability of physiotherapy services in the ICU: 24 h (PT-24; n = 332); and 12 h (PT-12; n = 483).

Assessing functional status after intensive care unit stay: the Barthel Index and the Katz Index.

Objective: To assess the functional status of post-ICU patients using the Barthel Index (BI) and the Katz Index (KI) and to assess which is more suitable for this population.

Design: Retrospective longitudinal study.

Setting: Public tertiary hospital in São Paulo (Brazil).

Quality of life of critically ill patients in a developing country: a prospective longitudinal study.

[Purpose] To evaluate the quality of life of critical illness survivors in a developing country over the time after hospital discharge and to assess the influence of clinical variables on quality of life. [Subjects and Methods] A prospective longitudinal study was conducted in a large, tertiary, public hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We included patients ≥18 years old, hospitalized in the intensive care unit with ≥24 hours of invasive mechanical ventilation.

Recovery of functional capacity in severe trauma victims at one year after injury: association with trauma-related and hospital stay aspects.

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the functional capacity of trauma survivors one year after hospital discharge and to identify associations with trauma- and hospital stay-related aspects in a developing country. [Subjects and Methods] This study included severe trauma patients (Injury Severity Score ≥16; ≥18 years old) who were admitted to an intensive care unit in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Hospital stay data were collected from the patients' records.