Background and aims: Limited data are available on the functional impairments of critically ill patients who survive the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).There is rising interest among clinicians and intensivists in newly acquired functional morbidity among such survivors.The Functional Status Scale (FSS) is an effective tool for assessing functional impairments.Our aim was to assess changes in the functional status of patients at discharge from the PICU and at a 3-month follow-up compared to baseline.We also intended to observe for any residual morbidity at 3 months after discharge from the PICU.Patients and methods: Children aged 2 months to 12 years with a PICU stay of 48 hours or more, or an age-adjusted quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score of 2 or less, were included in the study.Functional assessment using the FSS was performed for these patients at PICU admission, during the PICU stay, at discharge from the PICU, and at the 3-month follow-up.Results: We observed that 3.3% of patients had residual morbidity (1 increase in FSS scores from baseline) at the 3-month follow-up.Greater functional impairment was noted in the PICU cohort at discharge compared to baseline (p < 0.01) but not at 3 months (p = 0.09).A statistically significant difference was noted in PICU patients shifted for neurological causes (p = 0.007) and those receiving mechanical ventilation (p = 0.019).The score difference at discharge from baseline was more in patients with longer PICU stays (1.5 0.5; p = 0.04). Conclusion:The FSS is an effective tool to evaluate functional impairments among pediatric patients admitted in PICU.Multiple factors, including length of PICU stay, cause of shifting, and modalities of treatment, influence functional impairments.
Bajpai et al. (Wed,) studied this question.