Survivors of an episode of critical illness suffer from significant reductions in their health related quality of life (HRQOL) long after hospital discharge. When compared to populations of community-dwelling adults with chronic conditions, survivors of critical illness often report markedly lower states of HRQOL, which is presumed to be associated with the previous life-sustaining care delivered in an intensive care unit (ICU). The lower levels of HRQOL among survivors of critical illness are well recognized and this is a phenomenon that that impacts critically ill patients worldwide. However, there is a need for further investigation in this area, both to characterize survivors of critical illness who would most benefit from targeted rehabilitation, and to support and to identify factors that are potentially modifiable during and after ICU treatment.

In an effort to address this significant scientific gap, the authors sought to describe the effects of modifiable patient factors, in particular...

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