Mobilisation study in intensive care

The TEAM study, a bi-national, multicentre prospective observational cohort study (n = 192), investigated current mobilisation practice, strength at ICU discharge and functional recovery at six months among mechanically ventilated patients across multiple ICUs.

The study found that in the cohort examined, mobilisation was uncommon with more than 50% of patients discharged from the ICU developing ICU-acquired weakness, in turn associated with death between ICU discharge and day 90.

The study was published in Critical Care (TEAM Study Investigators, Hodgson C et al, Crit Care 2015), the third highest ranked intensive care journal (as assessed by Scopus) and achieved ‘Editor’s pick’, as well as having the highest number of social media hits of any publication in the history of the journal. The manuscript was also
published with a blog and a question and answer section from the authors.

Funded by The Alfred Foundation, The Intensive Care Foundation and Monash University, other outputs from
the TEAM program of research have included: publication of asystematic review; development of a novel outcome measure of mobilisation in intensive care; an international safety consensus meeting; and a pilot RCT.