Prevalence and development of chronic critical illness in acute patients admitted to a respiratory intensive care setting.

Introduction: Chronic Critical Illness (chronic CI) is a condition associated to patients surviving an episode of acute respiratory failure (ARF). The prevalence and the factors associated with the development of chronic CI in the population admitted to a Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) have not yet been clarified.

Methods: An observational prospective cohort study was undertaken at the RICU of the University Hospital of Modena (Italy).