Delayed recovery of oral intake is common in hospitalized patients with pneumonia, particularly among older adults with reduced physical activity. Despite the recent emphasis on early mobilization, the relationship between the timing of first mobilization and recovery of oral intake function remains unclear. Thus, this retrospective cohort study investigated the association between time to first mobilization and recovery of oral intake in patients hospitalized with pneumonia. We analyzed 431 admitted patients with pneumonia, including aspiration pneumonia and coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia, at two institutions. The Functional Oral Intake Scale ≥ 4 (partial oral intake recovery) was designated as the primary outcome. The main exposure was the number of days from admission to first mobilization. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used after appropriate adjustments. The median time to first mobilization was 4 days (IQR: 2–14 days). Longer time to first mobilization was significantly associated with delayed recovery of oral intake (HR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94–0.98, p < 0.001). Thus, early mobilization may promote the recovery of oral intake in patients with pneumonia. These findings suggest that avoiding excessive delays in mobilization may support the recovery of oral intake and swallowing function in hospitalized patients with pneumonia.
Watanabe et al. (Mon,) studied this question.