One out of four survivors of critical illness develops long-term cognitive impairment.  Cognitive impairment can interfere with a person’s quality of life, employment, and independence.  A better understanding of how common ICU treatments effect the risk of long-term cognitive impairment is urgently needed.

One of the most common therapies in the ICU is the administration of oxygen through a breathing machine.  For patients on a breathing machine, whether the amount of oxygen administered or the oxygen levels in the blood affect the development of long-term cognitive impairment is unknown.  The CO-PILOT study will evaluate the association between oxygen administration and oxygen levels during treatment with a breathing machine in the ICU and cognitive impairment as assessed by a phone survey 12 months later.

When the study is completed, a lay summary of the main findings will be available at this website.

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