Post Intensive Care Accelerometery to Study and Support Recovery Outcomes

Many people who survive a critical illness continue to face physical, emotional, and social challenges for a prolonged period afterwards. The Critical Care Recovery Service (CCRS) supports recovery across three acute hospitals in NHS Lothian, providing coordinated physical and psychological rehabilitation for ICU survivors. Within this diverse group, rehabilitation needs are graded as low or high risk using a validated screening checklist to identify patients with complex health and social care needs. This study is designed to collect patient reported outcome data and movement data from the dominant wrist using an accelerometer among CCRS patients. Adult patients identified as being at high risk of complex rehabilitation needs are subjected for voluntary enrolment at hospital discharge. In addition to the routine CCRS follow ups, participants in our study complete a structured telephone assessment to evaluate their health related quality of life, physical capabilities, and cognitive function over the two months following discharge, complemented by continuous wrist worn accelerometry for the entire study period. This study will provide early evidence on the feasibility and value of integrating continuous wearable monitoring with repeated patient-reported assessments during the early post-ICU period. By linking real-world activity patterns with key domains of recovery, the findings will help identify meaningful digital indicators of deterioration or unmet rehabilitation needs.