Clinically ill patients' experiences of early mobilisation after liver transplantation: a qualitative study using Pender's health promotion model.
Lixia Zhong, Yanhong Jin, Yanmei Gu and 7 others
PMID 36727671WHAT IT FOUND
Liver transplant patients in the ICU valued early mobilisation but feared graft damage.
Key barriers were pain, tubes and fatigue. They urgently wanted detailed guidance, safety, family presence and staff support to overcome these obstacles.
Key findings
01Patients recognised benefits like pulmonary and mental recovery but worried that early activity would harm the new liver graft.
02Major barriers included postoperative fatigue, pain, large incisions, multiple drainage tubes, sleep disturbance and a lack of detailed guidance or personnel assistance.
03Patients requested sufficient staff, a quiet environment, safety, clear goals, detailed guidance and family participation to support their mobilisation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Interviews occurred only upon transfer out of the ICU, so actual ward-based mobilisation behaviour was not observed. The study did not follow up to see if patients' stated willingness to continue mobilisation translated into action. Participants were recruited from three hospitals in Beijing, which may limit generalisability to other populations.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the patients' high self-efficacy and stated willingness to continue mobilisation as evidence that they actually did so on the ward. The study only captured their intentions and needs at the moment of ICU discharge, not their subsequent behaviour.