Determinants of Participation in a Post-Hospitalization Physical Exercise Program for Older Adults

Background: Older patients often experience a decline in physical function and cognitive status after hospitalization. Although interventions involving physical exercise are effective in improving functional performance, participation in physical exercise interventions among older individuals is low...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Urquiza Abaunza, Miriam, Echeverria Garay, Iñaki, Besga Basterra, Ariadna, Amasene Ugalde, María, Labayen Goñi, Idoya, Rodríguez Larrad, Ana, Barroso Niso, Julia, Aldamiz-Echebarria San Sebastian, Mikel, Irazusta Astiazaran, Jon
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/50116
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/50116
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:physical exercise
older people
participation
post-hospitalization
cardiac rehabilitation
malnutrition
care
mortality
barriers
people
association
decline
costs
risk
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Older patients often experience a decline in physical function and cognitive status after hospitalization. Although interventions involving physical exercise are effective in improving functional performance, participation in physical exercise interventions among older individuals is low. We aimed to identify factors that contribute to exercise refusal among post-hospitalized older patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study of recruitment data from a randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 495 hospitalized people >= 70 years old. Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained from the Basque Public Health System database. We determined physical function with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), nutritional status with the Mini-Nutritional Assessment, frailty according to the Fried phenotype criteria, and cognitive function with the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ). Student's t, Mann-Whitney U, or chi-squared tests were applied for bivariate analysis. Parameters significantly associated with participation were introduced in a logistic multivariate regression model. Results: Among the analyzed patients, 88.8% declined participation in the physical exercise program. Multivariate regression revealed that older age (OR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.07-1.19), poor nutritional status (OR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.69-0.95), and reduced home accessibility (OR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.08-0.94) were predictors of participation refusal. Moreover, patients who declined participation had worse performance on the SPPB (P < 0.05) and its tests of balance, leg strength, and walking speed (P < 0.05). No differences were found between groups in other variables. Conclusions: This study confirms low participation of older adults in a post-hospitalization physical exercise program. Non-participation was associated with increased age, poor nutritional status, and reduced home accessibility. Our findings support the need for intervention design that accounts for these factors to increase older patient participation in beneficial exercise programs.