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Review
. 2005 Jul;31(7):914-21.
doi: 10.1007/s00134-005-2657-6. Epub 2005 May 21.

Studying outcomes of intensive care unit survivors: the role of the cohort study

David W Dowdy  1 , Dale M Needham, Pedro A Mendez-Tellez, Margaret S Herridge, Peter J Pronovost
Affiliations
Review

Studying outcomes of intensive care unit survivors: the role of the cohort study

David W Dowdy et al. Intensive Care Med. 2005 Jul.

Erratum in

  • Intensive Care Med. 2005 Sep;31(9):1299

Abstract

Background: As research focuses on long-term patient outcomes and the "real world" effectiveness of intensive care unit (ICU) therapies, the cohort study is increasingly being used in critical care research.

Methods: Using examples of prior cohort studies in intensive care, we review the key elements of this research design and evaluate its advantages and limitations for critical care research. Furthermore, through a systematic search of the literature we summarize data from 70 prior published cohort studies of medium- and long-term outcomes in adult critical care medicine.

Discussion: This research demonstrates that the prospective cohort study is a powerful research design that has not been fully leveraged to assess relationships between exposures and long-term outcomes of ICU survivors.

Conclusions: We make recommendations for the design of future cohort studies to maximize the impact of this research in improving the long-term outcomes of critically ill patients.

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References

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