Physical and functional improvements after 4 weeks of a functional training program for home hospitalization unit patients

Physiology 2014 (London, UK) (2014) Proc Physiol Soc 31, PCB128

Poster Communications: Physical and functional improvements after 4 weeks of a functional training program for home hospitalization unit patients

C. Blasco-Lafarga1, R. Sanchis-Sanchis1, G. Sanchis-Soler1, P. LLorens2

1. Physical Education and Sport Department., University of Valencia, Valencia, Valencia, Spain. 2. Emergency medical services, Hospital General de Alicante, Alicante, Alicante, Spain.

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30 years of researching has evidenced the benefits of exercise on reducing cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, as well as osteoporosis, falls and injuries, respiratory or cognitive limitations, etc., prevalent diseases in chronic and multipathology elderly [1]. Sedentarism, but also social isolation, lead to severe losses on Functional Capacity and Quality of Life (QoL), increasing not only comorbidity but also the risk of future and frequent hospital readmissions [2-4]. On the other hand, recent attention has been given to the underlying risk of functional decline and vulnerability associated to hospital complications [4], even in short stays [3], with Home Hospitalization Units (HHU) appearing as powerful alternatives to conventional hospitalization. In this context, supervised home-base exercise programs, mostly multicomponent programs, give the opportunity to content the aging decline [5]. 6 men and 2 women, elderly multipathology patients from the HHU of the General Hospital of Alicante, Spain (85.63 ± 2.67 years) volunteer to participate in this study, aimed to assess the effect of 16 weeks of a home-based multicomponent and functional exercise training program. Body composition (Bioimpedance; Tanita BC-545N); Physical Function (both hands Hand Grip test: HG); Functional Capacity (Total Tinetti Test: tTT; addition of balance and walking items) and Dynamic Balance (Timed Up and Go Test: TUG) were tested previous to the program (W1: week 1), and in W6, after four weeks of training. These measures will be repeated in W11 and W16, at the end of the program. To elucidate pre-post differences in this first phase, a repeated measure ANOVA was conducted for numerical variables (i.e. weight, HG and TTT) controlling for age (covariate), while a chi-square test was employed for categorical analysis (TUG, considering the walking status more than the time in the test).The repeated measures ANOVA showed significant differences in weight (84.28 ±13.24 vs 81.94±13.07 kg; p=0.011), tTT (14.88±9.27 vs 17.63±7.69; p<0.05), and left HG (19.59±6.84 vs 21.53±7.04 kg; p<0.05). The chi-square test pointed to a significant improvement in TUG (p=0.014) since the 25% of the patients have changed the walking status in the test from “undone” to “done with walking frame”; 12’5% changed from “done with walking frame” to “walking with stick”; and 12’5% changed from “walking with stick” to “unassisted”.Six weeks of intervention, with just four weeks of training (12 workouts) have been enough to make significant changes in a HHU elderly population with functional and strength outputs under the standards [5, 6]. Significant changes in the left hand, TGU and weigh in such a short period, speak about important benefits from this neuromuscular training in multipathology elderly, and justify the need of its implementation in within HHU services.



Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.

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