Fig. 1

Schematic overview of the study: After admission of ICU survivors to the rehabilitation clinic patients underwent a baseline visit given that they were able to communicate beyond yes/no mode (with voice valve when necessary), and were attentive for at least 15 min. During the brief baseline visit global cognition (MoCA), mood (anxiety, depression), and functional scores (BI, ER-BI, EBI, mRS) were assessed and blood samples were taken (clinical routine). Visit 1 was scheduled one week after baseline and included cognitive tests to measure attention, memory and executive functions, and a questionaire concerning health-related quality of life (EQ5D5L) in addition to the repeated recording of mood, functional scores, and blood samples. All measurements (but without EQ5D5L) were re-assessed three weeks after baseline (visit 2), except discharge was at near future, then visit 2 was skipped and visit 3 was conducted. Visit 3 comprised the re-assessment of all visit 1 measurements and MoCA, and was always scheduled shortly before discharge. Therefore, number of visits and time lag/interval between visit 2 and 3 was variable between patients depending on length of stay. MoCA – Montreal cognitive Assessment, BI – Barthel Index, ER-BI – Early Rehabilitation Barthel Index, EBI – Extended Barthel Index, mRS – modified Rankin Scale, EQ5D5L – Euroqol 5 dimension 5 levels