Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39930162›Full record

ArticleAnnals of intensive care2025

Effect of early and later prone positioning on outcomes in invasively ventilated COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: analysis of the prospective COVID-19 critical care consortium cohort study.

Andrew J Simpkin, Bairbre A McNicholas, David Hannon, Robert Bartlett, Davide Chiumello, Heidi J Dalton, Kristen Gibbons, Nicole White, Laura Merson, Eddy Fan and 13 more

Erratum issuedAbstract read
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Article in Annals of intensive care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Prone positioning in ARDS.Intensive care medicine · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Andrew J SimpkinSchool of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4975-444X
Bairbre A McNicholasDepartment of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Clinical Sciences Institute, Galway University Hospital, Saolta University Healthcare Group, Galway, H91 YR71, Ireland.
David HannonDepartment of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Clinical Sciences Institute, Galway University Hospital, Saolta University Healthcare Group, Galway, H91 YR71, Ireland.
Robert BartlettUniversity of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Davide ChiumelloOspedale San Paolo, Milan, Italy.
Heidi J DaltonINOVA Fairfax Medical Center, Heart and Vascular Institute, Falls Church, VA, USA.
Kristen GibbonsChild Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Nicole WhiteChildren's Intensive Care Research Program, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Laura MersonISARIC, Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Eddy FanUniversity of Toronto, Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Mauro PanigadaFondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Di Milano, Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Emergency. Milano, Lombardia, Italy.
Giacomo GrasselliUniversity of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Anna MotosCentro de Investigación Biomedica En Red - Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain.
Antoni TorresCentro de Investigación Biomedica En Red - Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain.
Ferran BarbéCentro de Investigación Biomedica En Red - Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain.
Pauline Yeung NgCritical Care Medicine Unit, University of Hong Kong and Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
Jonathon P FanningCritical Care Research Group, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
Alistair NicholUniversity College Dublin-Clinical Research Centre at St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Jacky Y SuenCritical Care Research Group, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
Gianluigi Li BassiCentro de Investigación Biomedica En Red - Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain.
John F FraserChildren's Intensive Care Research Program, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
John G LaffeyDepartment of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Clinical Sciences Institute, Galway University Hospital, Saolta University Healthcare Group, Galway, H91 YR71, Ireland. jlaffey@universityofgalway.ie.
COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundProne positioning of patients with COVID-19 undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) is widely used, but evidence of efficacy remains sparse. The COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium has generated one of the largest global datasets on the management and outcomes of critically ill COVID-19 patients. This prospective cohort study investigated the association between prone positioning and mortality and in particular focussed on timing of treatment.

methodsWe investigated the incidence, demographic profile, management and outcomes of proned patients undergoing IMV for COVID-19 in the study. We compared outcomes between patients prone positioned within 48 h of IMV to those (i) never proned, and (ii) proned only after 48 h.

results3131 patients had data on prone positioning, 1482 (47%) were never proned, 1034 (33%) were proned within 48 h and 615 (20%) were proned only after 48 h of commencement of IMV. 28-day (hazard ratio 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.68, 0.98, p = 0.03) and 90-day (hazard ratio 0.81, 95% CI 0.68, 0.96, p = 0.02) mortality risks were lower in those patients proned within 48 h of IMV compared to those never proned. However, there was no evidence for a statistically significant association between prone positioning after 48 h with 28-day (hazard ratio 0.93, 95% CI 0.75, 1.14, p = 0.47) or 90-day mortality (hazard ratio 0.95, 95% CI 0.78, 1.16, p = 0.59).

conclusionsProne positioning is associated with improved outcomes in patients with COVID-19, but timing matters. We found no association between later proning and patient outcome.

Indexed as

COVID-19Cox proportional hazards modelsInvasive mechanical ventilationProne positioningProning

Identifiers

PMID39930162
PMCPMC11810853

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.