Authors
Samuel D Searle, Jeremy M Jacobs, Christina Peter, Christian Jung, Michael Beil
Published in
European geriatric medicine. Nov 04, 2026. Epub Nov 04, 2026.
Abstract
Patients with critical conditions admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) undergo one of the most extensive trials of resilience. In addition to considering survival as a crucial outcome, there is a growing awareness of the importance of recovering functional abilities in old ICU patients.
In this narrative review, a group of geriatricians and intensivists will discuss previous studies and current approaches to assess functional trajectories in old ICU survivors with a focus on frailty, functional independence and intrinsic capacity.
In previous studies, frailty as evaluated with the Clinical Frailty Scale or variants of the Frailty Index has been found to exhibit a dynamic course after a critical illness. Measures of functional independence show a similar pattern after ICU discharge depending on pre-existing impairments and frailty. Although the concept of intrinsic capacity could provide a holistic framework to predict functional impairments, there still is only limited data on its usefulness in the context of a critical illness.
Assessing the post-discharge trajectory in old survivors of a critical illness is crucial to detect early signs of complications and adjust individual support. However, current approaches in this field lack validation. Considering the challenges and importance of functional recovery in old ICU patients, more intensive research in the future is imperative in order to determine the best approach to describe, monitor and optimise the health status amongst these individuals.
PMID:
42981017
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 05 Nov 2026.
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