Activity and Circadian Rhythm of Sepsis Patients in the Intensive Care Unit

TL;DR

This study analyzes actigraphy data from ICU patients with sepsis to understand activity patterns and circadian rhythms, aiming to improve mobilization strategies and classify recovery subtypes.

Contribution

It is the first to characterize sepsis patient activity in ICU using granular actigraphy data and compare different patient groups.

Findings

Sepsis patients show distinct activity patterns compared to controls.

Circadian rhythm regularity differs between recovery subtypes.

Actigraphy can potentially guide mobilization and classify recovery.

Abstract

Early mobilization of critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can prevent adverse outcomes such as delirium and post-discharge physical impairment. To date, no studies have characterized activity of sepsis patients in the ICU using granular actigraphy data. This study characterizes the activity of sepsis patients in the ICU to aid in future mobility interventions. We have compared the actigraphy features of 24 patients in four groups: Chronic Critical Illness (CCI) sepsis patients in the ICU, Rapid Recovery (RR) sepsis patients in the ICU, non-sepsis ICU patients (control-ICU), and healthy subjects. We used several statistical and circadian rhythm features extracted from the patients' actigraphy data collected over a five-day period. Our results show that the four groups are significantly different in terms of activity features. In addition, we observed that the CCI and control-ICU patients show less regularity in their circadian rhythm compared to the RR patients. These results show the potential of using actigraphy data for guiding mobilization practices, classifying sepsis recovery subtype, as well as for tracking patients' recovery.