Outcomes After Intensive Rehabilitation for Mechanically Ventilated Patients: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study

To examine the effects of intensive rehabilitation on mortality and liberation from mechanical ventilation among patients with mechanical ventilation in intensive care units.

Retrospective cohort study using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database.

Patients discharged from acute care hospitals from April 2010 to March 2016.

Patients (N=46,438) aged 20 years and older who were admitted to intensive care units and who started rehabilitation within 3 days of starting mechanical ventilation.

Intensive rehabilitation in intensive care unit in the first 5 days after admission. Amount of rehabilitation was defined as the average number of units per day in the first 5 days after admission and was dichotomized as intensive (≥1.0 unit/d) or nonintensive (<1.0 unit/d) rehabilitation.

The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. The secondary outcome was liberation from mechanical ventilation.

We identified 29,982 eligible patients, including intensive (n=7745) and nonintensive (n=22,237) rehabilitation groups. In the propensity score-matched analysis, the intensive rehabilitation group had significantly lower in-hospital mortality (risk difference: -3.4%; 95% CI, -4.9% to -1.9%) and a higher proportion of liberation from mechanical ventilation (subdistribution hazard ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.13) compared with the nonintensive rehabilitation group.

Patients receiving a higher amount of rehabilitation in intensive care units were less likely to die and more likely to be liberated from mechanical ventilation.