• Dale M Needham, Amy W Wozniak, Catherine L Hough, Peter E Morris, Victor D Dinglas, James C Jackson, Pedro A Mendez-Tellez, Carl Shanholtz, E Wesley Ely, Elizabeth Colantuoni, Ramona O Hopkins, and National Institutes of Health NHLBI ARDS Network.
• 1 Outcomes After Critical Illness and Surgery Group.
• Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2014 May 15; 189 (10): 1214-24.

RationaleExisting studies of risk factors for physical impairments in acute lung injury (ALI) survivors were potentially limited by single-center design or relatively small sample size.ObjectivesTo evaluate risk factors for three measures of physical impairments commonly experienced by survivors of ALI in the first year after hospitalization.MethodsA prospective, longitudinal study of 6- and 12-month physical outcomes (muscle strength, 6-minute-walk distance, and Short Form [SF]-36 Physical Function score) for 203 survivors of ALI enrolled from 12 hospitals participating in the ARDS Network randomized trials. Multivariable regression analyses evaluated the independent association of critical illness-related variables and intensive care interventions with impairments in each physical outcome measure, after adjusting for patient demographics, comorbidities, and baseline functional status.Measurements And Main ResultsAt 6 and 12 months, respectively, mean (± SD) values for strength (presented as proportion of maximum strength score evaluated using manual muscle testing) was 92% (± 8%) and 93% (± 9%), 6-minute-walk distance (as percent-predicted) was 64% (± 22%) and 67% (± 26%), and SF-36 Physical Function score (as percent-predicted) was 61% (± 36%) and 67% (± 37%). After accounting for patient baseline status, there was significant association and statistical interaction of mean daily dose of corticosteroids and intensive care unit length of stay with impairments in physical outcomes.ConclusionsPatients had substantial impairments, from predicted values, for 6-minute-walk distance and SF-36 Physical Function outcome measures. Minimizing corticosteroid dose and implementing existing evidence-based methods to reduce duration of intensive care unit stay and associated patient immobilization may be important interventions for improving ALI survivors' physical outcomes.

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