Supplementary Material:

Appendix 1: Table 1 Search strategy

Appendix 2: Table 2 Screenings standard paper form in order to assess studies for eligibility (matrix)

Appendix 2: Table 3 Screenings standard paper form in order to assess studies for eligibility on full-text level

Appendix 1

Table 1 – Search Strategy

PUBMED / Participants/problems / (("Intensive Care" OR "Intensive Care"[Mesh:noexp]) OR "ICU*")
Intervention / (((((((((((((((((((Outpatients OR Outpatient*) OR Counseling) OR Counseling) OR Aftercare) OR Aftercare) OR Consultation*) OR "intensive care follow-up") OR "intensive care follow up") OR "ICU follow-up") OR "ICU follow up") OR Outpatient Clinics, Hospital[Mesh:noexp]) OR Rehabilitation) OR Rehabilitation) OR diary) OR diaries) OR "intensive care diaries") OR "photo diary") OR "patient diaries") OR "patient diary")
Outcome / ((((((((((((((((((“quality of life” OR "quality of life") OR "health-related quality of life") OR "hrqol*") OR anxiety) OR "depression") OR "Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic"[Mesh]) OR "mild cognitive impairment") OR "return to work") OR "anxiety") OR "depression") OR “post-traumatic stress disorder”) OR “post-traumatic stress disorders”) OR “PTSD”) OR "mental function") OR "cognitive impairment") OR "return to work") OR "physical function")
Study design / ((((“randomized controlled trial”[publication type] OR “randomized controlled trials as topic”) OR "randomized controlled trial") OR "randomized controlled trials") OR “RCT*”)
Results / 93 hits
Not relevant: 68 hits
Screened: 25 hits (3 review, 3 protocols, 19 studies)
After screening: 4 hits
EMBASE / Participants/problems / exp intensive care unit/ OR intensive care.mp OR Intensive care units.mp OR Intensive care unit.mp OR ICU*.mp OR exp intensive care/
Intervention / Exp Outpatient/ OR exp counseling/ OR exp aftercare / OR exp consultation/ OR exp rehabilitation/ OR outpatients department/ OR diary.mp OR outpatient*.mp OR counseling.mp OR aftercare.mp OR consultation*.mp OR Intensive care follow-up.mp OR Intensive care follow up.mp OR ICU follow-up.mp OR ICU follow up.mp OR Outpatient Clinics, Hospital.mp OR rehabilitation.mp OR diaries.mp OR intensive care diary.mp OR intensive care diaries.mp
Outcome / Exp quality of life/ OR quality of life.mp OR health-related quality of life.mp OR hrqol*.mp OR exp anxiety/ OR exp depression/ OR exp posttraumatic stress disorder/ OR exp mild cognitive impairment/ OR exp return to work/ OR anxiety.mp OR depression.mp OR posttraumatic stress disorder.mp OR posttraumatic stress disorders.mp OR PTSD.mp OR mental function.mp OR cognitive impairment.mp OR physical function.mp OR return to work.mp
Study design / exp randomized controlled trial/ OR randomized controlled trial.mp OR randomized controlled trials.mp OR RCT*.mp
Results / 866 hits
Exclude Medline hits: 798 duplicates
Not relevant: 63 hits
Screened: 5 hits (4 protocols, 1 commentary on Nurse-led intensive care follow-up clinics)
After Screening: 0 Hits
CINAHL / Participants/problems / ((MH “intensive care”) OR (“intensive care”) OR (MH “Intensive care units”) OR (“ICU*”) OR (“Intensive care unit”) OR (“Intensive care units”))
Intervention / ((MH “Outpatients”) OR (“outpatient*”) OR (MH “counseling”) OR (“counseling”) OR (MH “aftercare”) OR (“aftercare”) OR (MH “consultation”) OR (“Consultation*”) OR (MH “rehabilitation”) OR (“rehabilitation”) OR (“outpatients clinics, Hospital”) OR (“Intensive care follow-up”) OR (“Intensive care follow up”) OR (“ICU follow-up”) OR (“ICU follow up”) OR (MH “diaries”) OR (“diaries”) OR (“Diary”) OR (“intensive care diary”) OR (“intensive care diaries”) OR (“photo diaries”) OR (“photo diary”) OR (MH “patient diaries”) OR (“patient diaries”) OR (“patient diary”))
Outcome / ((MH “quality of life”) OR (“quality of life”) OR (“health related quality of life”) OR (“hrqol*”) OR (MH “anxiety”) OR (“anxiety”) OR (MH “depression”) OR ( “depression”) OR (MH “posttraumatic stress disorder”) OR ( “posttraumatic stress disorder”) OR (“posttraumatic stress disorders”) OR (MH “mild cognitive impairment”) OR ( “mild cognitive impairment”) OR (MH “return to work”) OR ( “return to work”) OR ( “PTSD”) OR ( “mental function”) OR ( “cognitive impairment”) OR (MH “cognitive impairment”) OR ( “physical function”))
Study design / ((“Randomized controlled trial”) OR (“randomized controlled trials”) OR (MH “Randomized controlled trials”) OR (“RCT*”))
Results / 37 Hits
Exclude medline journals: 28 duplicates
Not relevant: 8 hits
Screened: 1 hits (1 Commentaries)
After screening: 0 Hits
PSYCINFO / Participants/problems / exp intensive care unit/ OR intensive care.mp OR Intensive care units.mp OR Intensive care unit.mp OR ICU*.mp OR exp intensive care/
Intervention / Exp Outpatient/ OR exp counseling/ OR exp aftercare / OR exp consultation/ OR exp rehabilitation/ OR outpatients department/ OR diary.mp OR outpatient*.mp OR counseling.mp OR aftercare.mp OR consultation*.mp OR Intensive care follow-up.mp OR Intensive care follow up.mp OR ICU follow-up.mp OR ICU follow up.mp OR Outpatient Clinics, Hospital.mp OR rehabilitation.mp OR diaries.mp OR intensive care diary.mp OR intensive care diaries.mp
Outcome / Exp quality of life/ OR quality of life.mp OR health-related quality of life.mp OR hrqol*.mp OR exp anxiety/ OR exp depression/ OR exp posttraumatic stress disorder/ OR exp mild cognitive impairment/ OR exp return to work/ OR anxiety.mp OR depression.mp OR posttraumatic stress disorder.mp OR posttraumatic stress disorders.mp OR PTSD.mp OR mental function.mp OR cognitive impairment.mp OR physical function.mp OR return to work.mp
Study design / exp randomized controlled trial/ OR randomized controlled trial.mp OR randomized controlled trials.mp OR RCT*.mp
Results / 81 hits
Exclude Medline hits: 78 duplicates
Exclude Cohrane Library CENTRAL hits: 2 duplicates
Not relevant: 1 hit
Screened: 0 hits
After screening: 0 hits
Cochrane Library CENTRAL / Participants /problems / ("Intensive care" or "intensive care unit" or "intensive care units" or "ICU*" or "mh Intensive Care Units" or "mh Intensive Care")
Intervention / ("mh Outpatients" or "mh Counseling" or "mh Aftercare" or "mh Referral and Consultation" or "mh Rehabilitation" or "mh Outpatient Clinics, Hospital" or "outpatient*" or "counseling" or "aftercare" or "consultation*" or "rehabilitation" or "diaries" or "diary" or "intensive care diaries" or "photo diary" or "patient diary" or "patient diaries" or "intensive care follow-up" or "intensive care follow up")
Outcome / ("mh Quality of Life" or "mh Anxiety" or "mh Depression" or "mh Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic" or "mh Mild Cognitive Impairment" or "quality of life" or "health related quality of life" or "HRQOL*" or "Anxiety" or "depression" or "Posttraumatic stress disorder" or "Posttraumatic stress disorders" or "PTSD" or "mild cognitive impairment" or "mental function" or "cognitive impairment" or "physical function" or "return to work")
Study design / ("mh Randomized Controlled Trial" or "RCT*" or "randomized controlled trials" or "randomized controlled trial")
Results / 411 hits
Exclude duplicates: 137
Limits: ≤18 years of age: 141 hits
Not relevant: 126 hits
Screened: 7 hits (4 reviews, 3 protocols)
After screening: 0 hits
Clinical trials (ongoing trials) / Participants /problems / ("Intensive Care" OR "intensive care unit*")
Intervention / (Outpatient* OR Counseling OR Aftercare OR Follow-Up* OR Rehabilitation OR diary OR diaries)
Outcome / (”Quality of life” OR Anxiety OR depression OR “post-traumatic stress disorder” OR “cognitive function”)
Study design / Interventional Studies
Results / 46 studies
Exclude Medline hits: 14 duplicates
Limits ‘age 18+’: 9 hits
Not relevant: 19 hits
Screened: 4 hits (3 on-going trials, 1 study completed and dublet)
After screening: 1 hits
Ongoing/ unpublished studies / Experts contacted: / Brummel N., Åkerman E., Angus DC., Needham D., Bäckman C., Samuelson K., Cuthbertson B., Jones C., Holmes A., Knowles RE., Tarrier N., & Rattray J.
Hits: 1
Screened: 1 Hits (on-going – no protocol)
After screening: 0 hits
Reference track / In 34 references in literature search / Hits: 9 (3 reviews, 6 articles)
Not relevant n=7
Screened: 2 Hits (2 articles)
After screening: 1 relevant hits
TOTAL / RESULTS / 45 references
(Review: n=11, Protocol: n=6, Commentary: n=2, Not RCT n=5, NOT ICU patients, n=4, Not relevant intervention n=6, Ongoing studies, n=3, duplet n=1, Consultations given in both treatment arms n = 1, Substantial losses to follow-up n=1)
Studies included / 5 studies

Table 1 Search strategy

Appendix 2 Table 2 Screenings standard paper form in order to assess studies for eligibility

RCT / Relevant participants / Relevant interventions / Relevant outcomes
Yes / No / Unclear / Yes / No / Unclear / Yes / No*/ Unclear / Yes / No* / Unclear

Table 2 Screenings standard paper form in order to assess studies for eligibility23

* Issue relates to relevant interventions and selective reporting when authors may have preformed consultation(s) or taken measurements for particular outcomes, but not reported these within the paper(s). Reviewers should contact trial lists for information on possible consultation(s) and non-reported outcomes & reasons for exclusion from publication. If no clarification is received after three attempts, study should then be excluded. Do not proceed if any of the above answers are ‘No’.23

Table 3 Screenings standard paper form, and in- and excluded studies from search strategy on full text level (not on title and abstract level):

Author, title / RCT / Relevant participants / Relevant interventions / Relevant outcomes / Notes
Papers
Review (n=11) / Yes / No / Unclear / Yes / No / Unclear / Yes / No*/ Unclear / Yes / No* / Unclear / In references or search databases
Marlies Zwerink, 2014
Self management for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / Review / No / Yes / Yes / No relevant studies
In CENTRAL
Mistiaen, 2006.
Telephone follow-up, initiated by a hospital-based health professional, for postdischarge problems in patients discharged from hospital to home / Review / No / Yes / Yes / No relevant studies
In CENTRAL
Kayambu G, 2013
Physical therapy for the critically ill in the ICU: a systematic review and meta-analysis. / Review / Yes / Unclear / Yes / Screened in full text, No additional studies
In CENTRAL and PubMED
Aubin, 2012
Interventions to improve continuity of care in the follow-up of patients with cancer. / Review / No / Yes / Yes / No relevant studies, population only cancer
In CENTRAL
Aitken LM, 2013
The use of diaries in psychological recovery from intensive care. / Review / Yes / Yes / Yes / No additional studies
In PubMED
Calvo-Ayala E, 2013
Interventions to improve the physical function of ICU survivors: a systematic review. / Review / Yes / Unclear / Yes / No additional relevant studies
In PubMED
Mary De Silva, 2009.
Psychosocial interventions for the prevention of disability following traumatic physical injury / Review / Unclear / Yes / Yes / Two articles screened from references
In CENTRAL
José-Ramón Rueda, 2011
Non-invasive interventions for improving well-being and quality of life in patients with lung cancer / Review / Unclear / Yes / Yes / One article screened: Evaluation of an early exercise intervention after thoracotomy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), effects on quality of life, muscle strength and exercise tolerance: Randomized controlled trial. -> Only cancer patients
In CENTRAL
Rattray J, 2014
Life after critical illness: an overview. / Unsystematic review / Yes / Yes / Yes / References and found in PubMED search on name
Mehlhorn J, 2014
Rehabilitation interventions for postintensive care syndrome: a systematic review. / Systematic review / Yes / Yes / Yes / In PubMED
Wilcox ME, 2014
Cognitive dysfunction in ICU patients: risk factors, predictors, and rehabilitation interventions. / Review / Yes / Yes / Yes / In PubMED
Studies excluded (n=15)
Berney S, 2012
Safety and feasibility of an exercise prescription approach to rehabilitation across the continuum of care for survivors of critical illness. / No (cohort study) / Yes / Yes / No
(Safety and feasibility) / Some patients recruited from outpatients clinics
In PubMED, CENTRAL and CINAHL
Garrousta-Oregeas M, 2012
Impact of an intensive care unit diary on psychological distress in patients and relatives*. / No (prospective before and after study). / Yes / Yes / Yes / From reference list and in PubMed
Needham 2013
Physical and cognitive performance of patients with acute lung injury 1 year after initial trophic versus full enteral feeding. EDEN trial follow-up. / No (prospective longitudinal study) / Yes / No / Yes / In PubMED and CINAHL
Salisbury LG, 2010
Rehabilitation after critical illness: could a ward-based generic rehabilitation assistant promote recovery? / No (feasibility study based on a case) / Yes / Yes / No / In reference list is Salisbury The development and feasibility of a ward-based rehabilitation package.
In PubMED and CENTRAL
Wittmann M, 2007
[Patient education in COPD during inpatient rehabilitation improves quality of life and morbidity]. / Yes / No
Response from author / Yes / Yes / Only COPD patients, not COPD patients in ICU
In PubMED and CENTRAL
Douglas SL, 2005
Impact of a disease management program upon caregivers of chronically critically ill patients. / Yes / No
(relatives) / Yes / Yes / Other two papers from Daly 2005 reduce patients’ readmissions, and Douglas 2007 on patients’ HRQOL and resource use. Two papers on the same study (listed in Clinical trial as on-going).
In clinical trials and PubMED
Wasson, 1992
Telephone follow-up. / Yes / Not ICU / Yes / Yes / In PubMED and CENTRAL
Needham, 2013
One year outcomes in patients with acute lung injury randomised to initial trophic or full enteral feeding: prospective follow-up of EDEN randomised trial. / No (prospective, longitudinal study) / Yes / Yes / Yes / In PubMED, CENTRAL and CINAHL
Calthorpe S, 2014
An intensive physiotherapy program improves mobility for trauma patients. / Yes / No / No / Yes / One group got exercise in ward, not described consultations.
In PubMED
Batterham AM, 2014
Effect of supervised aerobic exercise rehabilitation on physical fitness and quality-of-life in survivors of critical illness: An exploratory minimized controlled trial (PIX study). / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / Only exercise, not described any follow-up consultations
In PubMED and CENTRAL
Brummel 2012
A Combined Early Cognitive and Physical Rehabilitation Program. / Yes / Yes
(Cognitive and physical impaired) / No
(not described the follow-up) / Yes / In CENTRAL, PubMED and CINAHL
References screened:
Brummel NE, 2014
Feasibility and safety of early combined cognitive and physical therapy for critically ill medical and surgical patients: The Activity and Cognitive Therapy in ICU (ACT-ICU) trial. (Protocol)
In PubMED
Jackson JC 2012
Cognitive and physical rehabilitation of intensive care unit survivors: results of the RETURN randomized controlled pilot investigation. / Yes
(pilot) / Yes / No / Yes / In PubMED and CENTRAL
Denehy L, 2013
Exercise rehabilitation for patients with critical illness: a randomized controlled trial with 12 months of follow-up. PM / Yes / Yes / No / Yes / In PubMED and CENTRAL