New research finds that people who took 7,500 steps a day before surgery can lower their risk for post-surgical complications.
People who walked more before surgery — regardless of the type of operation or the status of their health — had 51% lower odds for complications after surgery compared to people who weren’t as active. It’s unclear how long people were walking in advance of the surgeries assessed in the study. Findings will be presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2023 this week.
The researchers looked at data on 475 people. The study participants all used Fitbit devices to measure the amount of steps they took daily. Then the researchers looked at data on complications within 90 days of surgery. Participants underwent a variety of surgeries — from neurosurgery to orthopedic surgery. On average, the people were 57 years old, and 74.7% of them were women.
About 30% of people typically experience postoperative complications. About half of all the complications happen after the person leaves the hospital.
“Fitbits and other wearable devices could potentially be linked to electronic health records (EHRs) and have that data be something that surgeons consider when planning perioperative care for their patients,” Carson Gehl, lead author and a second-year medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, said. “This could really come to fruition to improve postoperative outcomes.”
Gehl noted that the study took into account EHR and Fitbit data.
“We used the combination of EHRs and Fitbit data to uncover how to potentially improve surgical outcomes. In our study, we looked at how many steps patients recorded on any given day, which is a proxy for physical activity,” Gehl said.
“However, the fitness data wasn’t limited to the immediate preoperative period. The length of their activity record could be six months or several years before surgery. This is more reflective of chronic physical activity habits, versus the physical activity in the immediate preoperative period.”
Of the participants, 12.6% had a complication within 90 days of surgery. Odds of people having a complication within 30 days of surgery was 45% less if they took more than 7,500 steps a day before the surgery compared to less than 7,500 steps. After the researchers adjusted for comorbidities, the researchers found that the people who took more than 7,500 steps a day had a 51% lower odds of having a complication.
“If we find people who are at high risk, using these Fitbit tools, we could monitor them more closely following their procedure because that allows us to catch problems before they progress beyond control,” Gehl said. “Another goal of our research is to modify physical activity in the preoperative period and improve postoperative outcomes. We need more studies and evidence to answer that question.”
