Table 1.

Main characteristics of included patients

	Control group (n = 31)	Intervention group (n = 30)	p Value
Patient characteristics
Age, years	65 (58–74)	64 (54–74)	0.99
Sex, male, n (%)	18 (58)	20 (67)	0.48
SAPS II score	45 (27–65)	42 (26–60)	0.60
Charlson comorbidity index score	4 (3–6)	4 (2–5)	0.30
Main reasons for ICU admission, n (%)
Acute respiratory failure	23 (74)	20 (67)	0.71
Pneumonia/pleural effusion	11	8
Chronic respiratory disease	4	7
Cardiogenic pulmonary edema	5	3
Neuromuscular disease	2	0
Vascular disease	1	2
Postoperative care/trauma, n (%)	3 (10)	4 (13)	0.96
Metabolic, n (%)	3 (10)	4 (13)	0.96
Nonrespiratory sepsis, n (%)	2 (6)	2 (7)	0.63
Prior to inclusion
Days of sedation	3 (2–8)	4 (2–7)	0.30
Time from end of sedation to inclusion, days	3 (0–4)	1 (0–4)	0.49
On inclusion
RASS	0 (0–0)	0 (0–0)	0.19
Comfort score, VAS	60 (50–80)	70 (50–80)	0.92
Physiologic variables
Temperature, °C	37.1 (36.9–37.4)	37.1 (36.2–37.6)	0.66
Heart rate, beats/minute	98 (83–116)	86 (76–108)	0.29
Systolic blood pressure, mmHg	115 (106–140)	130 (121–134)	0.19
Respiratory rate, breaths/minute	22 (20–25)	19 (16–25)	0.18
Analgesic treatment, n (%)	17 (55)	11 (37)	0.15
Mechanical ventilation	6 (19)	5 (17)	0.35
Invasive ventilation, n (%)	6 (19)	3 (10)
Noninvasive ventilation, n (%)	0	2 (7)

RASS Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale, SAPS II Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, ICU Intensive care unit, VAS Visual analogue scale (0 = maximal discomfort, 100 = maximal comfort)

Results are expressed as median (interquartile range) or frequency (%)