Cognitive, Functional, and Quality of Life Outcomes 6 Months After Mechanical Ventilation for Bronchiolitis: A Secondary Analysis of Data From the Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure Trial ( RESTORE ).

OBJECTIVES: To describe rates and associated risk factors for functional decline 6 months after critical bronchiolitis in a large, multicenter dataset.

DESIGN: Nonprespecified secondary analysis of existing 6-month follow-up data of patients in the Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure trial ( RESTORE , NCT00814099).

SETTING: Patients recruited to RESTORE in any of 31 PICUs in the United States, 2009-2013.

PATIENTS: Mechanically ventilated PICU patients under 2 years at admission with a primary diagnosis of bronchiolitis.

INTERVENTIONS: There were no interventions in this secondary analysis; in the RESTORE trial, PICUs were randomized to protocolized sedation versus usual care.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: "Functional decline," defined as worsened Pediatric Overall Performance Category and/or Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category (PCPC) scores at 6 months post-PICU discharge as compared with preillness baseline. Quality of life was assessed using Infant Toddler Quality of Life Questionnaire (ITQOL; children < 2 yr old at follow-up) or Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) at 6 months post-PICU discharge. In a cohort of 232 bronchiolitis patients, 28 (12%) had functional decline 6 months postdischarge, which was associated with unfavorable quality of life in several ITQOL and PedsQL domains. Among 209 patients with normal baseline functional status, 19 (9%) had functional decline. In a multivariable model including all subjects, decline was associated with greater odds of worse baseline PCPC score and longer PICU length of stay (LOS). In patients with normal baseline status, decline was also associated with greater odds of longer PICU LOS.

CONCLUSIONS: In a random sampling of RESTORE subjects, 12% of bronchiolitis patients had functional decline at 6 months. Given the high volume of mechanically ventilated patients with bronchiolitis, this observation suggests many young children may be at risk of new morbidities after PICU admission, including functional and/or cognitive morbidity and reduced quality of life.