Conclusions There is considerable variability in the type of measures utilized to measure physical impairments and limitations in survivors of critical illness .
Purpose To identify measures used to evaluate the broad constructs of functional impairment and limitations in the critically ill across the continuum of recovery , and to evaluate , synthesis e and compare the clinimetric properties of the measures identified .
Interest of conventional clinical, biochemical and bioimpedance measurements as indicators of mortality risk in critical patients.
Risk assessment is nowadays an essential part of the management of seriously ill subjects , and multiple scoring methods are available , based on single or preferably multiple determinations . Some of these protocol s have been successfully used around the world , and they permit the prediction of outcomes in different clinical population s. However , many indices are labor-intensive or dem and an exp and ed set of biochemical determinations , thus representing an economical burden . Aim ing to evaluate the prognostic value of ordinary variables that are already present in the clinical observation , 50 consecutive patients admitted at the intensive care unit were prospect ively documented . Methods included clinical ( age , sex , stay in ICU , FIO2 ) , biochemical ( serum albumin , hemoglobin , glucose , creatinine , WBC count ) , and bioimpedance variables ( resistance , reactance , body impedance coefficient ) . All these values were registered at admission and before discharge or death , and compared with survival rate . Initially only WBC count was significantly different in survivors , but ongoing documentation revealed that later on , four indices were endowed with prognostic impact : serum album , glucose levels , WBC count and FIO2 requirements . Organ or function-sustaining procedures were also associated with outcome , nominally mechanical ventilation , vasoactive drugs , and enteral/parenteral nutrition . Furthermore , patients su bmi tted to two or three of these methods exhibited higher mortality than those receiving just one , with even better result for those not requiring any . It is concluded that observation of ongoing changes in conventional clinical variables available in the clinical chart are a valid means of estimating the mortality risk in critical cases
Conclusions There is considerable variability in the type of measures utilized to measure physical impairments and limitations in survivors of critical illness .
Purpose To identify measures used to evaluate the broad constructs of functional impairment and limitations in the critically ill across the continuum of recovery , and to evaluate , synthesis e and compare the clinimetric properties of the measures identified .