Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Mar;69(3):637-643.
doi: 10.1111/jgs.16922. Epub 2020 Nov 12.

Assisted Walking Program on Walking Ability in In-Hospital Geriatric Patients: A Randomized Trial

Domenica Gazineo  1 , Lea Godino  2 , Roberta Decaro  1   3 , Pietro Calogero  3 , Daniela Pinto  3 , Paolo Chiari  4 , Marco Zoli  5 , Elisa Ambrosi  6
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Assisted Walking Program on Walking Ability in In-Hospital Geriatric Patients: A Randomized Trial

Domenica Gazineo et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: The main aim of this study was to evaluate if an individualized assisted walking program (IAWP) for hospitalized older patients could improve walking ability compared with usual geriatric care and rehabilitation.

Design: A randomized controlled trial with an active control group, open labeled with parallel assignment was conducted between October 2018 and January 2020.

Setting: Geriatric ward.

Participants: A total of 387 hospitalized patients (≥65 years) were randomly assigned to an intervention or control (usual-care) group.

Intervention: The control group received usual hospital care. The intervention group received also an IAWP.

Measurements: The primary endpoint was change in walking ability from hospital admission (considering both current and pre-admission status) to discharge, as assessed with the Braden Activity subscale measures. The secondary endpoint was the occurrence of in-hospital adverse events, such as complications of mobility, pressure ulcers, falls, pain and mortality, and the length of hospital stay. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses were performed.

Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between intervention and control groups. The intervention group, relative to the control group, had significantly improved walking ability at discharge (P < .001). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of in-hospital adverse events. No adverse effects were detected.

Conclusion: In in-hospital patients aged 65 and older, an IAWP improves walking ability at discharge.

Keywords: Braden activity subscale; assisted walking; hospitalized patients; older patients; randomized control trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. King BJ, Steege LM, Winsor K, VanDenbergh S, Brown CJ. Getting patients walking: a pilot study of mobilizing older adult patients via a nurse-driven intervention. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2016;64:2088-2094.
    1. BURERT N.247. Organizzazione dell'assistenza integrata al paziente anziano con fratture di femore - Approvazione linee guida per le Aziende Sanitarie della Regione Emilia-Romagna. Regione Emilia-Romagna; 2013.
    1. World Health Organization. World Report on Ageing and Health; 2015.
    1. de Morton N, Keating JL, Jeffs K. Exercise for acutely hospitalised older medical patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007;24(1):CD005955.
    1. Mudge AM, Banks MD, Barnett AG, et al. CHERISH (collaboration for hospitalised elders reducing the impact of stays in hospital): protocol for a multi-site improvement program to reduce geriatric syndromes in older inpatients. BMC Geriatr. 2017;17:11.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources