# ASPIRE: A Study Promoting Critical Illness Recovery in the Elderly

> **NIH NIH R03** · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $116,250

## Abstract

ASPIRE: A Study Promoting critical Illness Recovery in the Elderly
Project Abstract:
Older people have a higher risk of developing a critical illness requiring invasive mechanical ventilation than
younger people. Additionally, muscle wasting, which occurs quickly and progresses rapidly in all patients who
are critically ill and on mechanical ventilation, is more severe in older adults. This results in long-term
physical impairments, particularly in older survivors of critical illness. ICU rehabilitation, when
administered early, has been shown to be effective at attenuating the degree of physical function impairment in
survivors. However, there are barriers to the provision of early ICU rehabilitation, including delirium and coma.
Additionally, older patients have been routinely excluded from critical care trials even though they make up the
majority of the critically ill population. We recently performed a pilot feasibility trial of a novel, early ICU
rehabilitation protocol in older adults utilizing an in-bed cycle ergometer. The in-bed cycle ergometer
allowed for ICU rehabilitation to start at a particularly early point in the ICU course when muscle wasting
begins, and allowed delivery of rehabilitation even when patients were comatose or delirious. We hypothesize
that the novel, early ICU rehabilitation protocol using an in-bed cycle ergometer will improve functional
outcomes in older survivors of critical illness. As such, the specific aims of the proposal are to evaluate the
effect of the early ICU rehabilitation intervention on 1) physical function (as measured by the SPPB at ICU
discharge), 2) muscle mass (as measured by ultrasound at ICU discharge), and 3) quality of life (measured
with the SF-36 at 6 months post-discharge). This will be the first randomized controlled trial to test this novel
early ICU rehabilitation intervention in older patients. This project and period of training with the GEMSSTAR
award will be critical in my transition to becoming a clinical trialist with a focus on improving older
adults' physical function following critical illness.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9987421
- **Project number:** 5R03AG060076-02
- **Recipient organization:** WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Rita Nanik Bakhru
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $116,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9987421

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9987421, ASPIRE: A Study Promoting Critical Illness Recovery in the Elderly (5R03AG060076-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9987421. Licensed CC0.

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