A cross-sectional study of early mobility practice in intensive care units in Sarawak Hospitals, Malaysia.
Siew Yieng Yong, Sidiah Siop, Wee Meng Kho
PMID 33318828WHAT IT FOUND
Early mobility was recorded on 65.6% of patient-days in five Sarawak ICUs, but protocol adherence averaged 52.5%, with mostly in-bed activity.
Invasive ventilation was associated with staying in bed.
Key findings
01Early mobility was recorded on 882 of 1,344 patient-days (65.6%) in five Sarawak ICUs.
02The five hospitals had an average early-mobility protocol adherence rate of 52.5%, with hospital rates of 46.9% to 74.2%.
03Invasively ventilated patients had 12.53 times the odds of staying in bed compared with non-invasively ventilated patients.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The results came from staff nurses' documentation, not direct observation, so early-mobility activity may have been over-reported. The study covered only five government ICUs in Sarawak for four weeks, so it may not represent practice in other Malaysian hospitals. It reports prevalence, activity levels, and protocol adherence; it does not test whether early mobility improves patient outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 65.6% early-mobility prevalence as evidence that patients were mobilized out of bed or that early mobility improved outcomes. The study counted any documented activity, found mostly in-bed activity, and did not test treatment effects.