• Yun Hee Park, Ryoung Eun Ko, Danbee Kang, Jinkyeong Park, Kyeongman Jeon, Jeong Hoon Yang, Chi Min Park, Joongbum Cho, Young Sook Park, Hyejung Park, Juhee Cho, Eliseo Guallar, Gee Young Suh, and Chi Ryang Chung.
• Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2020 Apr 20; 35 (15): e101.

BackgroundDespite the increasing importance of rehabilitation for critically ill patients, there is little information regarding how rehabilitation therapy is utilized in clinical practice. Our objectives were to evaluate the implementation rate of rehabilitation therapy in the intensive care unit (ICU) survivors and to investigate the effects of rehabilitation therapy on outcomes.MethodsA retrospective nationwide cohort study with including > 18 years of ages admitted to ICU between January 2008 and May 2015 (n = 1,465,776). The analyzed outcomes were readmission to ICU readmission and emergency room (ER) visit.ResultsDuring the study period, 249,918 (17.1%) patients received rehabilitation therapy. The percentage of patients receiving any rehabilitation therapy increased annually from 14% in 2008 to 20% in 2014, and the percentages for each type of therapy also increased over time. The most common type of rehabilitation was physical therapy (91.9%), followed by neuromuscular electrical stimulation (29.6%), occupational (28.6%), respiratory, (11.6%) and swallowing (10.3%) therapies. After adjusting for confounding variables, the risk of 30-day ICU readmission was lower in patients who received rehabilitation therapy than in those who did not (P < 0.001; hazard ratio [HR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65-0.75). And, the risk of 30-day ER visit was also lower in patients who received rehabilitation therapy (P < 0.001; HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.77-0.88).ConclusionIn this nationwide cohort study in Korea, only 17% of all ICU patients received rehabilitation therapy. However, rehabilitation is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of 30-day ICU readmission and ER visit.© 2020 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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