Home exercise program does not improve outcomes after hip fracture

January 01, 0001

Home exercise program does not improve outcomes after hip fracture

The objective of these US investigators was to determine whether a yearlong home-based exercise program initiated following hip fracture could improve outcomes for older patients with hip fracture. They randomized 180 community dwelling female patients with hip fracture, 65 years and older, to intervention (n = 91) or usual care (UC, n = 89). Patients were recruited within 15 days of fracture from 3 Baltimore-area hospitals from November 1998 through September 2004. Follow-up assessments were conducted at 2, 6, and 12 months after fracture. The Exercise Plus Program was administered by exercise trainers that included supervised and independently performed aerobic and resistive exercises with increasing intensity.

They found: "More than 80% of participants received trainer visits, with the majority receiving more than 3 quarters (79%) of protocol visits. The intervention group reported more time spent in exercise activity during follow- up. Overall, small effect sizes of 0 to 0.2 standard deviations were seen for bone mineral density measures, and no significant patterns of time-specific between-group differences were observed for the remaining outcome measures."

The authors concluded: "Patients with hip fracture who participate in a yearlong, in-home exercise program will increase activity level compared with those in UC; however, no significant changes in other targeted outcomes were detected."

It’s good to know what doesn’t work as well as what does.


For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Intern Med 171(4):323-331, 28 February 2011
© 2011 to the American College of Physicians
Delivery and Outcomes of a Yearlong Home Exercise Program After Hip Fracture-A Randomized Controlled Trial. Denise L. Orwig, Marc Hochberg, Janet Yu-Yahiro, et al. Correspondence to Dr. Orwig: [email protected]

Category: M. Musculoskeletal, HSR Health Services Research. Keywords: hip fracture, elderly, exercise, home-based care, randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 15 March 2011

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