The investigators hypothesise that mobilisation in the evening will promote more natural sleep, with patients becoming tired from physical exertion and plan to evaluate the impact this may have on reducing the incidence or duration of delirium.
A mixed-methods, two centre, randomised controlled feasibility study to establish the viability of conducting a larger multicentre RCT to test the effects of evening mobilisation on the incidence of ICU-acquired delirium.
Part 1 will evaluate whether it is possible to achieve acceptable recruitment and retention rates, intervention fidelity, and if the proposed data collection methods are appropriate.
Part 2 includes an acceptability analysis and qualitative evaluation, aiming to explore both patient and staff subjective experiences of the study intervention and proposed research methods (including willingness for randomisation and study outcome measures) and provide information to refine the study intervention (if required). The investigators will use principles of Normalisation Process Theory [28] and the NoMAD assessment tool [29] to assess the practicalities associated with implementing additional evening physiotherapy.
Treatment / Intervention The intervention will be delivered by a dedicated mobilisation team recruited from the study centres and will include trained ICU physiotherapists. Mobilisation will be delivered according to standardised procedures and established safety criteria. The intervention will begin on day 1 of admission or the first evening following recruitment.
After consultation with the responsible physician and nurse, patients will be approached between 19.00 and 21:00 to confirm suitability and consent to mobilise. Patients who are asleep will not be woken for the intervention. Mobilisation will be defined as a score of ≥ 2 on the Manchester mobility score (sit on the edge of the bed or higher), with actual mobilisation level achieved and duration of intervention based on clinical decision of the mobilisation therapists. Patients will also be offered the opportunity to engage in activities which may be part of their normal evening routines (e.g. brushing teeth, reading or watching television).
The intervention will be carried out for up to seven consecutive evenings. The intervention will be terminated if a) patient condition deteriorates irretrievably and physiotherapy is no longer appropriate, b) after seven evenings, or c) when the patient is discharged from the ICU. The intervention will not continue at secondary wards or units.
The evening mobilisation will be delivered in addition to any input from the MDT during normal daily working hours and will not replace any standard therapy.
