Early mobilization was effective in enhancing the recovery of critically ill patients, but more large-scale, multicenter randomized controlled trials are required to further confirm these findings.

A total of 39 articles were included in the meta-analysis.

The results showed that early mobilization improved ventilator-associated pneumonia patients’ Medical Research Council score; reduced the incidence of intensive care unit-acquired weakness and intensive care unit-related complications such as ventilator-associated pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis, and pressure sores; and shortened the duration of mechanical ventilation, length of intensive care unit stay and hospital stay.

Study eligibility was independently evaluated by two researchers. The title and abstract of the studies were first screened, and full-text articles of the remaining studies were screened for verification.

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