The impact of mobilization training time during the first postoperative week on the length of hospital stay in postoperative patients admitted to an intensive care unit.
Yusuke Ozaki, Yuji Kono, Ayato Shinohara and 4 others
PMID 39886858WHAT IT FOUND
More mobilization training in the first week after surgery linked to shorter hospital stays.
Each extra hour of sitting, standing, or walking during therapy associated with 4.02 fewer days in hospital. Total therapy time did not predict stay length once patient severity was adjusted.
Key findings
01Each additional hour of mobilization training (sitting, standing, walking) in the first postoperative week was associated with a 4.02-day reduction in hospital stay.
02Total rehabilitation time during the first week was not associated with hospital stay length in the adjusted analysis, despite appearing linked in unadjusted data.
03A higher percentage of total rehab time spent on mobilization training was independently associated with shorter hospital stays.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Single-center study from Japan, so results may not generalize to other populations or healthcare systems. Retrospective design means associations cannot prove causation. Mobilization time was recorded only during formal rehabilitation sessions, excluding time patients spent moving or standing outside of therapy. The study excluded patients who died in the ICU, which may bias the sample toward survivors. Patients had relatively mild comorbidities (median Charlson comorbidity index of 0), so findings may not apply to sicker ICU populations.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the 4.02-day reduction as a guaranteed outcome for every patient. This is an observational association, not a causal effect from a trial. Patients who mobilize more may be healthier or less complicated to begin with, despite statistical adjustments. Also, the study only counted mobilization during formal therapy sessions; it did not measure how much patients moved on their own outside of these sessions.