First results about recovery of walking function in patients with intensive care unit-acquired muscle weakness from the General Weakness Syndrome Therapy (GymNAST) cohort study

OBJECTIVES To describe the time course of recovery of walking function and other activities of daily living in patients with intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired muscle weakness. DESIGN This is a cohort study. PARTICIPANTS We included critically ill patients with ICU-acquired muscle weakness. SETTING Post-acute ICU and rehabilitation units in Germany. MEASURES We measured walking function, muscle strength, activities in daily living, motor and cognitive function. RESULTS We recruited 150 patients (30% female) who fulfilled our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary outcome recovery of walking function was achieved after a median of 28.5 days (IQR=45) after rehabilitation onset and after a median of 81.5 days (IQR=64) after onset of illness. Our final multivariate model for recovery of walking function included two clinical variables from baseline: the Functional Status Score ICU (adjusted HR=1.07 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.12) and the ability to reach forward in cm (adjusted HR=1.02 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.04). All secondary outcomes but not pain improved significantly in the first 8 weeks after study onset. CONCLUSIONS We found good recovery of walking function for most patients and described the recovery of walking function of people with ICU-acquired muscle weakness. TRIALS REGISTRATIONS NUMBER Sächsische Landesärztekammer EK-BR-32/13-1; DRKS00007181, German Register of Clinical Trials.