RESPIRATORY failure impacts millions annually in the U.S., leaving many survivors with lasting physical, cognitive, and quality-of-life impairments. Despite the critical need to understand and support recovery, no standard exists for evaluating functional recovery in these patients. A recent scoping review sheds light on this issue, analyzing the current approaches used to assess post-respiratory failure recovery.
The review evaluated 5,873 studies, narrowing down to 56 that met strict inclusion criteria: participants were adults hospitalized for acute respiratory failure, requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, with functional recovery as an outcome. Researchers found that 28 distinct measures were used to evaluate recovery, categorized as performance-based (8) or self-reported and proxy-reported (20).
Notably, use of these measures has surged since 2019, with 89% of the measures appearing in studies from 2019-2024, compared to just 43% prior. The six-minute walk test emerged as the most commonly employed metric, featured in 46% of studies. However, only 61% of studies tracked outcomes for six months or longer, limiting insights into long-term recovery.
The findings emphasize a need for standardized metrics to enable consistent and effective measurement of functional recovery. Establishing a gold standard could improve patient care and inform rehabilitation strategies, ensuring that survivors of respiratory failure receive the support they need.
Reference: Parrotte KP et al. Outcome Measures to Evaluate Functional Recovery in Survivors of Respiratory Failure. Chest. 2024;2(3):100084.
Anaya Malik | AMJ
