Physical Activity Levels in COVID-19 Patients Admitted to Intensive Care

Physical Activity Levels in COVID-19 Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Requiring Invasive Ventilation: An Observational Study

This is an observational study exploring the levels of mobility and rehabilitation in patients admitted to critical care with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: COVID-19; Critical Illness; Ards; ICU Acquired Weakness
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Physiotherapy

Detailed Description

An admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) often results in significant muscle weakness and physical deconditioning, which can take many months or even years for recovery. Early and progressive programmes of rehabilitation are recommended to limit any muscle loss and support recovery as early as possible. Patients admitted to intensive care with COVID-19 have been found to require prolonged periods of mechanical ventilation, high sedation and neuromuscular blocking use and as a result require prolonged stays in the ICU. As yet no data exists to examine the specific physical impact this may have, or whether it is safe and feasible to commence this earlier rehabilitation within the ICU for patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19. Our study set out to evaluate the levels of rehabilitation which were delivered in a large acute NHS trust.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 92

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Birmingham, United Kingdom, B15 2GW
    • UHB NHS Foundation Trust

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults admitted to ICU with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, mechanically ventilated for >24 hours and surviving to ICU discharge were included.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• having a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19
• being mechanically ventilated for at least 24 hours
• surviving to critical care discharge.

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
COVID-19; Observations taken of standard physiotherapy practice. All patients are assessed daily and receive respiratory care and rehabilitation as deemed appropriate by the treating therapist	Other: Physiotherapy; Daily physiotherapy to include respiratory care and rehabilitation based on the individual therapists clinical reasoning; Other Names: Rehabilitation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mobility level	Highest level of mobility achieved at the point of ICU discharge	At ICU discharge, an average of 3 weeks
Time taken to first mobilise	Time taken to first mobilise, defined as sitting on the edge of the bed or higher	during ICU admission, up to 3 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Discharge location	Discharged to home, home with rehab, or a community rehab facility	Hospital discharge, up to 2 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• McWilliams D, Weblin J, Hodson J, Veenith T, Whitehouse T, Snelson C. Rehabilitation Levels in Patients with COVID-19 Admitted to Intensive Care Requiring Invasive Ventilation. An Observational Study. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2021 Jan;18(1):122-129. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202005-560OC.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 8, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): May 8, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 17, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 19, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): May 20, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 20, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 19, 2020
• Last Verified: May 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Lung Diseases; Disease Attributes; COVID-19; Critical Illness
• Other Study ID Numbers: PhysioCOVID-19

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No