Rehabilitation for Older Adults From Acute Medical Conditions

Completed · Phase 2

Conditions studied: Aging, Frail Elderly

In brief

Hospitalization for an acute medical condition often results in functional decline in older adults. This loss of function often is not reversed after hospital discharge. Our general hypothesis is that patients will benefit from rehabilitation that occurs simultaneously with the medical management of acute conditions and when linked with a home exercise program that can be implemented after discharge from the hospital. This approach differs from the traditional approach of addressing rehabilitation needs after acute conditions have resolved and providing rehabilitation services for selected patients in institutional settings, such as subacute units or nursing homes. The feasibility of the program will be assessed by documenting the participation of subjects during the inpatient phase and adherence of subjects with the home-based program. Fifty subjects will be recruited from individuals who are 60 years of age or older who have been admitted to the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) for treatment of an acute medical condition. Subjects will be either unable to ambulate, require assistance for ambulation, or be unable to ambulate a functional distance (150 feet) at a functional velocity (30m/min). Subjects will be randomly assigned to a physical rehabilitation group (PR) or to a control group (CON). During hospitalization, subjects in the PR group daily will have one 45-minute morning rehabilitation session and one 30-minute evening rehabilitation session. Both sessions will include ambulation and transfer training. The longer morning session will also include resistance exercise. Subjects in the CON group will have medial care as it is currently provided. During the six months after discharge, subjects in the PR group will perform a home-based exercise program consisting of ambulation and resistance exercises. The program will be monitored and progressed by an exercise physiologist who will visit subjects weekly for the first month after discharge, every other week for the second and third months after discharge, and monthly in the fourth, fifth, and six months after discharge. This study is designed to test the feasibility and effectiveness of a practical and potentially cost-effective rehabilitation program.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT00038155
Run by
US Department of Veterans Affairs
People needed
10
Starts
2002-05-01
Expected to finish
2005-09-01
Last updated by the study team
2010-09-24

Who can join

Age: 60 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.