Early Mobilization Interventions in the Intensive Care Unit: Ongoing and Unpublished Randomized Trials

Table 2

Limitations and future directions for early mobility research.

Limitations of current evidence base	Study populations that should be explored	Knowledge gaps
Mechanically ventilated patients	Older adults	Timing for initiation of mechanical ventilation
Primary respiratory disease	Nonmechanically ventilated critically ill patients	Nurse-led early mobilization
Few RCTs with heterogeneous outcome measures	Acute cardiovascular patients	Patient-centered outcomes
No evidence of functional benefit	Preexisting mobility impairment	Standardized protocol for EM (i.e., nature of activity, personnel of delivery)
No large RCTs	Neuromuscular impairments
	Obese patients
	Patients with cognitive impairment
	Gender differences

Abbreviations: RCT, randomized controlled trials; EM, early mobilization.