Structured clinical reasoning for exercise prescription in patients with comorbidity

Clinical Outcomes Following Exercise Rehabilitation in People with Multimorbidity: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effectiveness of exercise rehabilitation in people with multimorbidity. Exercise capacity was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were: health-related quality of life, activities of daily living, cardiometabolic outcomes, mental health outcomes, symptom scores, resource utilization, health behaviours, economic outcomes, and adverse events.

DATA SOURCES

A search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINHAL, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases.

STUDY SELECTION AND EXTRACTION

Randomized and non-randomized controlled trials and cohort studies of exercise rehabilitation vs any comparison in people with multimorbidity.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Forty-four reports (38 studies) were included. Rehabilitation ranged from 8 weeks to 4 years, with 1-7 sessions of rehabilitation weekly. Exercise included aerobic and resistance, limb training, aquatic exercises and tai chi. Compared with usual care, exercise rehabilitation improved 6-min walk distance (weighted mean difference (WMD) 64 m, 95% CI 45-82) and peak oxygen consumption (WMD 2.74 mL/kg/min, 95% CI -3.32 to 8.79). Effects on cardiometabolic outcomes and health-related quality of life also favoured rehabilitation; however; few data were available for other secondary outcomes.

CONCLUSION

In people with multimorbidity, exercise rehabilitation improved exercise capacity, health-related quality of life, and cardiometabolic outcomes.

Recovery and the use of postoperative physical therapy after total hip or knee replacement

Background

Total hip or knee arthroplasties (THA/TKA) show favorable long-term effects, yet the recovery process may take weeks to months. Physical therapy (PT) following discharge from hospital is an effective intervention to enhance this recovery process. To investigate the relation between recovery and postoperative PT usage, including the presence of comorbidities, 6 months after THA/TKA.

Methods

Multicenter, observational study in primary THA/TKA patients who completed preoperative and 6 months postoperative assessments. The assessments included questions on PT use (yes/no and duration; long term use defined as ≥ 12 weeks), comorbidities (musculoskeletal, non-musculoskeletal, sensory comorbidities and frequency of comorbidities). Recovery was assessed with the HOOS/KOOS on all 5 subdomains. Logistic regression with long term PT as outcome was performed adjusted for confounding including an interaction term (comorbidity*HOOS/KOOS-subdomain).

Results

In total, 1289 THA and 1333 TKA patients were included, of whom 95% received postoperative PT, 56% and 67% received postoperative PT ≥ 12 weeks respectively. In both THA and TKA group, less improvement on all HOOS/KOOS domain scores was associated with ≥ 12 weeks of postoperative PT (range Odds Ratios 0.97–0.99). In the THA group the impact of recovery was smaller in patient with comorbidities as non- musculoskeletal comorbidities modified all associations between recovery and postoperative PT duration (Odds Ratios range 1.01–1.05). Musculoskeletal comorbidities modified the associations between Function-in-Daily-Living-and Sport-and-recreation recovery and postoperative PT. Sensory comorbidities only had an effect on Sport-and-recreation recovery and postoperative PT. Also the frequency of comorbidities modified the relation between Function-in-Daily-Living, pain and symptoms recovery and postoperative PT. In the TKA group comorbidity did not modify the associations.

Conclusion

Worse recovery was associated with longer duration of postoperative PT suggesting that PT provision is in line with patients’ needs. The impact of physical recovery on the use of long-term postoperative PT was smaller in THA patients with comorbidities.

Trial registration

Registered in the Dutch Trial Registry on March 13, 2012. TRIAL ID NTR3348; registration number: P12.047. https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/3197.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-022-05429-z.

Stratified exercise therapy does not improve outcomes compared with usual exercise therapy in people with knee osteoarthritis (OCTOPuS study): a cluster randomised trial

QUESTION

In people with knee osteoarthritis, how much more effective is stratified exercise therapy that distinguishes three subgroups (high muscle strength subgroup, low muscle strength subgroup, obesity subgroup) in reducing knee pain and improving physical function than usual exercise therapy?

DESIGN

Pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial in a primary care setting.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 335 people with knee osteoarthritis: 153 in an experimental arm and 182 in a control arm.

INTERVENTION

Physiotherapy practices were randomised into an experimental arm providing stratified exercise therapy (supplemented by a dietary intervention from a dietician for the obesity subgroup) or a control arm providing usual, non-stratified exercise therapy.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Primary outcomes were knee pain severity (numerical rating scale for pain, 0 to 10) and physical function (Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score subscale activities of daily living, 0 to 100). Measurements were performed at baseline, 3 months (primary endpoint) and 6 and 12 months (follow-up). Intention-to-treat, multilevel, regression analysis was performed.

RESULTS

Negligible differences were found between the experimental and control groups in knee pain (mean adjusted difference 0.2, 95% CI -0.4 to 0.7) and physical function (-0.8, 95% CI -4.3 to 2.6) at 3 months. Similar effects between groups were also found for each subgroup separately, as well as at other time points and for nearly all secondary outcome measures.

CONCLUSION

This pragmatic trial demonstrated no added value regarding clinical outcomes of the model of stratified exercise therapy compared with usual exercise therapy. This could be attributed to the experimental arm therapists facing difficulty in effectively applying the model (especially in the obesity subgroup) and to elements of stratified exercise therapy possibly being applied in the control arm.

REGISTRATION

Netherlands National Trial Register NL7463.

Ketogenic Diet, Physical Activity, and Hypertension-A Narrative Review

Several studies link cardiovascular diseases (CVD) with unhealthy lifestyles (unhealthy dietary habits, alcohol consumption, smoking, and low levels of physical activity). Therefore, the strong need for CVD prevention may be pursued through an improved control of CVD risk factors (impaired lipid and glycemic profiles, high blood pressure, and obesity), which is achievable through an overall intervention aimed to favor a healthy lifestyle. Focusing on diet, different recommendations emphasize the need to increase or avoid consumption of entire classes of food, with only partly known and only partly foreseeable consequences on the overall level of health. In recent years, the ketogenic diet (KD) has been proposed to be an effective lifestyle intervention for metabolic syndrome, and although the beneficial effects on weight loss and glucose metabolism seems to be well established, the effects of a prolonged KD on the ability to perform different types of exercise and the influence of KD on blood pressure (BP) levels, both in normotensives and in hypertensives, are not so well understood. The objective of this review is to analyze, on the basis of current evidence, the relationship between KD, regular physical activity, and BP.

Six-minute walk test protocol variations in low-resource settings - A scoping review

BACKGROUND

The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is a validated tool, of submaximal intensity, used to objectively measure functional exercise capacity. In 2002, the American Thoracic Society (ATS) developed guidelines on standardising the implementation of the 6MWT. Despite the relative ease of conducting the 6MWT as per these guidelines, adaptations are implemented.

OBJECTIVES

Identify (1) what 6MWT adaptations to the ATS guidelines have been described in low-resource settings (LRS), (2) the purpose of the adapted 6MWT and (3) the reported argumentation for making these adaptations in relation to the specific context.

METHODS

Five databases were searched from inception until February 2021. Studies that adapted and conducted the 6MWT in LRS were included. Data concerning the study source, participants, 6MWT: purpose, variations, outcome and rationale were extracted.

RESULTS

A total of 24 studies were included. The majority of studies (n = 18; 75%) were conducted in lower-middle income countries. The most common adaptation implemented was variation to course length. Eight studies provided a rationale for adapting the 6MWT. Space constraint was the most common reason for adaptation.

CONCLUSION

The most common reason (space constraints) for adapting the 6MWT in LRS was addressed through adaptations in course length and/or configuration. The results of this review suggest that the value of the ATS-guided 6MWT in LRS may need to be re-evaluated.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Using adapted forms of the 6MWT may lead to an underestimation of a patient's abilities, misinformed discharge and developing inappropriate exercise programmes. Additionally, diverting from ATS guidelines may affect the continuity of care.

Intelligent Personalized Exercise Prescription Based on an eHealth Promotion System to Improve Health Outcomes of Middle-Aged and Older Adult Community Dwellers: Pretest-Posttest Study

BACKGROUND

A scientific, personalized, and quantitative exercise prescription that has the potential to be an important therapeutic agent for all ages in the prevention of chronic disease is highly recommended. However, it is often poorly implemented, as clinicians lack the necessary knowledge and skills while participants have low adherence due to design defects (eg, prescriptions fail to take individual willingness, the appeal of exercise, and complex physical conditions into account). Intelligent personalized prescription is thus worth exploring.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a year-long cloud platform-based and intelligent personalized exercise prescription intervention could improve Chinese middle-aged and older adult community dwellers' health outcomes.

METHODS

A total of 177 participants (aged 52-85 years; mean 67.93, SD 7.05) were recruited from 2 Chinese community health service centers in Anhui Province, China. The exercise intervention was delivered over 12 months with a single-group pretest-posttest design. After being assessed in terms of physical activity, health-related lifestyle, history of chronic diseases and drug use, family history of disease and cardiovascular function, body composition, bone mineral density, and physical fitness through an eHealth promotion system, participants with relative contraindications for exercise were personally prescribed the health care exercise mode by an intelligent system, while those without relative contraindication and who had a regular exercise habit were prescribed the scientific fitness mode. Paired t tests were used for the analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 97 participants were classified into the health care mode, and the remaining 80 participants were assigned to the scientific fitness mode. Significant changes in heart rate (mean difference [MD] 2.97; 95% CI 1.1-4.84; P=.002), subendocardial viability ratio (MD -0.13; CI: -1.19 to -0.63; P<.001), weight (MD 0.99; CI 0.29-1.69; P=.006), BMI (MD 0.38; CI 0.11-0.64; P=.006), body fat rate (MD 0.88; CI 0.24-1.51; P=.007), fat mass (MD 0.92; CI 0.33-1.53; P=.003), and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (MD: -0.72; CI -1.17 to -0.27; P=.002) were observed among participants with the health care mode exercise prescriptions at the 12-month postintervention versus the baseline assessment, while no changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, muscle mass, bone mineral density, t value, z value, balance, or ability were discerned. The results showed a functional decline in the physical fitness of both groups, including in handgrip strength (healthcare mode: MD 4.41; scientific fitness mode: MD 3.11), vital capacity (healthcare mode: MD 261.99; scientific fitness mode: MD 250.78), and agility (healthcare mode MD=-0.35; scientific fitness mode: MD=-0.39) with all P values <.001, except handgrip strength in the scientific fitness mode (P=.002). There were no significant differences in other parameters among participants with scientific fitness mode exercise prescriptions.

CONCLUSIONS

The observations suggest that our exercise prescription intervention program might promote certain health outcomes in Chinese middle-aged and older adult community dwellers, yet we are unable to recommend such a program given the existing limitations. Future randomized controlled trials with diverse samples are warranted to confirm our findings.

Setting meaningful goals in rehabilitation: rationale and practical tool

CONTEXT

Goal-setting is a key characteristic of modern rehabilitation. However, goals need to be meaningful and of importance to the client.

AXIOMS

Both theories and empirical evidence support the importance of a hierarchy of goals: one or more overall goals that clients find personally meaningful and specific goals that are related to the overall goals. We posit that the client's fundamental beliefs, goals and attitudes ("global meaning") need to be explored before setting any rehabilitation goal. A chaplain or other person with similar skills can be involved in doing so in an open-ended way. The client's fundamental beliefs, goals and attitudes serve as a point of departure for setting rehabilitation goals.

SETTING GOALS

We set out a three-stage process to set goals: (1) exploring the client's global meaning (i.e. fundamental beliefs, goals and attitudes), (2) deriving a meaningful overall rehabilitation goal from the client's global meaning and (3) setting specific rehabilitation goals that serve to achieve the meaningful overall rehabilitation goal.

CONCLUSION

This is an extension of current practice in many rehabilitation teams, which may help counter the drive toward exclusively functional goals based around independence.