Receiving early mobility during an intensive care unit admission is a predictor of improved outcomes in acute respiratory failure.

Introduction: Hospitals are under pressure to provide care that not only shortens hospital length of stay but also reduces subsequent hospital admissions. Hospital readmissions have received increased attention in outcome reporting. The authors identified survivors of acute respiratory failure who then required subsequent hospitalization.

Early intensive care unit mobility therapy in the treatment of acute respiratory failure.

Objective: Immobilization and subsequent weakness are consequences of critical illness. Despite the theoretical advantages of physical therapy to address this problem, it has not been shown that physical therapy initiated in the intensive care unit offers benefit.

Design And Setting: Prospective cohort study in a university medical intensive care unit that assessed whether a mobility protocol increased the proportion of intensive care unit patients receiving physical therapy vs.