To describe the long-term outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) survivors of mechanical ventilation, and investigate the views of survivors on ICU rehabilitation clinics.

A single-center cross-sectional descriptive study was designed. ICU survivors of mechanical ventilation admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from January to December 2016 were enrolled. Data were collected from August 2017 to March 2018. The general information questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and ICU rehabilitation clinics questionnaire were used to evaluate ICU survivors social-demographic factors, social and economic outcomes, clinical data, quality of life and the views on ICU rehabilitation clinics.

A total of 248 ICU survivors of mechanical ventilation were included in the study, 130 (52.4%) of them were followed up successfully. The mean time from ICU discharge to follow-up day was (19.64±3.20) months. The average age of the survivors was (60.09±15.42) years old, and 55.4% of them were over 60 years old. Among 130 ICU survivors, severe pneumonia was the dominant ICU admission diagnosis (23.1%), followed by surgical operations (cardiac surgery 16.9%, other surgical operations 20.8%), lung transplantation (13.1%), and acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD, 12.3%), etc. The first APACHEⅡ score after ICU admission was 16.88±7.37, the mechanical ventilation time was (12.52±12.34) days, and the length of ICU stay was (16.71±15.11) days. In terms of social and economic outcomes, the proportion of having full-time or part-time jobs decreased from 32.3% (42/130) before ICU admission to 25.4% (33/130) by the date of follow-up, while the unemployed rate increased from 6.9% (9/130) to 18.5% (24/130). Only 45.1% (23/51) of the ICU survivors returned to the post before ICU admission. 36.2% (47/130) of the ICU survivors reported that they needed care from others, and 86.9% (113/130) reported that their treatment experiences in ICU had an impact on their lives. In terms of quality of life, physiological function dimension, which was 34.62±33.15, scored the lowest and suffered the most. The physical pain dimension and mental health dimension suffered the least, and the scores were 90.19±16.98 and 75.28±15.15, respectively. Furthermore, physical component summary (PCS) score was 61.12±17.09, and mental component summary (MCS) score was 65.97±21.85. In terms of the views of ICU rehabilitation clinics, 68.5% (89/130) of the subjects believed that the establishment of ICU rehabilitation clinics was very helpful or helpful.

The long-term outcomes of ICU survivors of mechanical ventilation are not optimistic. Their quality of life is lower than that of general people. It is necessary to set up ICU rehabilitation clinics.

Mechanical ventilation; Survivors; Health-related quality of life; Rehabilitation clinic