Malkoç, Mehtap; Karadibak, Didem; Yldrm, Yücel
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of physiotherapy on ventilator dependency and lengths of intensive care unit (ICU) stay. 510 patients were divided into either the control group, which received standard nursing care or the intervention group who were taken into the chest physiotherapy program. The extubation time and length of ICU stay were compared between the two groups. Control patients had a longer period of ventilator dependency than the intervention patients and this difference was statistically significant. It was noted that the resulting length of stay in the ICU was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group.
Although the patients had similar diagnoses and physical features, the length of stay in the ICU was significantly lower in the intervention group. The results show that physiotherapy has a great impact on ventilatory dependency and length of stay in the ICU.