Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify the latent trajectories of activities of daily living (ADL) disability and the influential factors among adults with post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). METHODS: We evaluated five-time longitudinal data about PICS diagnosed in 434 of 593 assessed patients (73.19%). Disability was measured by the Barthel index scale, which grades individuals according to how difficult it is to carry out ADL. We utilized the growth mixture model (GMM) to identify latent trajectories and associated factors. RESULTS: Two groups with distinct trajectories of ADL disability were identified, including the Severe Disability Sustained Group and the Disability Recovery Group. People who were of advanced age transferred to another hospital for treatment, or had cognitive impairment or depression were more likely to be classified into the Severe Disability Sustained Group (P < 005). CONCLUSION: There are two potential trajectories of ADL disability in patients with PICS, which are the severe disability persistence group and the disability recovery group. Improvement in cognitive impairment or depression may contribute to recovery from disability, transfer to hospital or advanced age may not be conducive to recovery of ADL ability, and disability may last longer.