Prevalence and risk factors for intensive care unit acquired weakness: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) is an acquired neuromuscular lesion and a common occurrence in patients who are critically ill. We will systematically summarize and incorporate the important risk factors and prevalence from previously published multivariate analyses for ICU-AW. METHODS: We will search the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library to identify the relevant studies about the prevalence and risk factors for ICU-AW. Two reviewers will independently review the studies for eligibility according to the inclusion criteria. Two reviewers will independently assess the quality of studies by using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale for nonrandomized studies. Heterogeneity among studies will be estimated by the I(2) statistic. RESULTS: This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide an evidence of prevalence and risk factors for the ICU-AW. CONCLUSION: We hope that our research will contribute to clinicians and public decision making about the ICU-AW.