Older adults who are hospitalized who walk as little as 25 minutes a day can counteract the physical impacts of bed rest, a new study shows.
Researchers from Spain wanted to know how much activity a person needed at minimum to counteract the results of being in bed so much. So they looked at published clinical trials on people over 50 who were admitted to hospitals for serious illness. Those patients were prescribed any form of physical activity during their stay. Data came from 19 trials on 3,783 people ranging from 55 to 87 years old. The average person stayed in the hospital for seven days, and the average period for monitoring after discharge was 68 days.
The minimal amount of light-intensity activity to counter the effects of bed rest was 40 minutes per day or 25 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a day, researchers found. The optimal amount was about 70 minutes a day of light-intensity activity or 40 minutes a day of moderate-intensity activity. There was no clear benefit to logging more than 90 minutes of light intensity activity or 60 minutes of moderate physical activity a day, the team reported.
Physical activity and slow-paced walking were most effective. Walking was more than 80% effective optimally for about 50 minutes a day minimally for 25 minutes per day.
Staying in bed, even if people can get up and walk, is common when hospitalized. But the inactivity can cause post-hospital syndrome, which is a time period after discharge when a person is vulnerable due to the lack of activity. It can make someone physically weak, have memory issues or bring on post-traumatic stress. Post-hospital syndrome can lead to disability, need for assistance, readmission, illness and even death. A nursing home admission often results from the inability of a patient to transition home after a hospital stay.
“Older adults are projected to comprise more than 60% of the total hospital inpatient population by 2030. Based on the existing evidence to date, this review has shown the optimal type and dose of physical activity necessary to prevent functional decline and reduce adverse events in older adults admitted to hospital,” the authors wrote. The study was published last week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
