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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Apr;10(4):1942-1953.
doi: 10.1002/nop2.1496. Epub 2022 Nov 28.

A systematic review and meta-analysis: Assessment of hospital walking programs among older patients

Christine Loyd  1   2 , Yue Zhang  1 , Tara Weisberg  2 , James Boyett  2 , Elizabeth R Huckaby  2 , Jeri Grundhoefer  2 , Steve Otero  2 , Lisa Roberts  1 , Samantha Giordano-Mooga  2 , Carmen Capo-Lugo  3 , Catherine H Smith  4 , Richard E Kennedy  1 , Barbara J King  5 , Cynthia J Brown  1   6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

A systematic review and meta-analysis: Assessment of hospital walking programs among older patients

Christine Loyd et al. Nurs Open. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to assess effect of hospital walking programs on outcomes for older inpatients and to characterize hospital walking dose reported across studies.

Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis examining impact of hospital walking and/or reported walking dose among medical-surgical inpatients. For inclusion, studies were observational or experimental, published in English, enrolled inpatients aged ≥ 65 yrs hospitalized for medical or surgical reasons.

Methods: Searches of PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, NICHSR, OneSearch, ClinicalTrials.gov, and PsycINFO were completed in December 2020. Two reviewers screened sources, extracted data, and performed quality bias appraisal.

Results: Hospital walking dose was reported in 6 studies and commonly as steps/24 hr. Length of stay (LOS) was a common outcome reported. Difference in combined mean LOS between walking and control groups was -5.89 days. Heterogeneity across studies was considerable (I2 = 96%) suggesting poor precision of estimates. Additional, high-quality trials examining hospital walking and patient outcomes of older patients is needed.

Keywords: hospitalization; meta-analysis; mobility; nursing care; older adults; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
PRISMA diagram
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Forest plot of mean difference in length of stay (LOS) between intervention and control groups among experimental studies reporting LOS as mean/SD
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Funnel plot of estimates (estimated difference in mean length of stay, LOS) vs. precision (standard effort) of experimental studies reporting LOS as mean/SD
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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