Knee Extension Strength Measures Indicating Probable Sarcopenia Is Associated with Health-Related Outcomes and a Strong Predictor of 1-Year Mortality in Patients Following Hip Fracture Surgery.

To examine if knee-extension strength (KES) measures indicating probable sarcopenia are associated with health-related outcomes and if KES and hand grip strength (HGS) measures are associated with 1-year mortality after hip fracture. Two groups of older patients with hip fracture had either HGS (n = 32) or KES (n = 150) assessed during their acute hospital stay. Cut-points for HGS (<27 kg for men and <16 kg for women), and cut-points for maximal isometric KES (non-fractured limb), being the lowest sex-specific quintile (<23.64 kg for men and <15.24 kg for women), were used to examine association with health-related outcomes and 1-year mortality. Overall, 1-year mortality was 12.6% in the two strength groups, of which 47% (HGS) and 46% (KES) respectively, were classified as probable sarcopenia. Probable sarcopenia patients (KES) had lower prefracture function, performed poorly in mobility measures and expressed a greater concern of falling compared to their stronger counterparts. Hazard ratio for 1-year mortality was 2.7 (95%CI = 0.49-14.7, p = 0.3) for HGS and 9.8 (95%CI = 2.2-43.0, p = 0.002) for KES for probable sarcopenia patients compared to those not. Sex-specific KES measures indicating sarcopenia is associated with health-related outcomes and a strong predictor of 1-year mortality after hip fracture.

A home-based tele-rehabilitation protocol for patients with hip fracture called @ctivehip.

Home-based tele-rehabilitation programs are under development and may be a future option for some patients. The objectives of this non-randomized clinical trial are to design a home-based multidisciplinary tele-rehabilitation protocol for patients with hip fracture, and to compare this protocol versus the home-based usual outpatient rehabilitation protocol. Seventy patients treated for an acute hip fracture, aged 65 years or older, with a high pre-fracture functional level (Functional Independence Measure score >90), without severe cognitive impairment, absence of terminal disease, discharged to their own home or a relativés home postoperatively, allowed weight-bearing, and with signed informed consent, will be allocated into a tele-rehabilitation group (n = 35) or a control group (n = 35). The inclusion criterion for the intervention group will be to have a caregiver with the ability to access the Internet who is willing to perform exercises and activities with the patient at home. The intervention includes a program of physical exercise and occupational therapy (five weekly sessions during 12 weeks), and recommendations for patients and their caregivers, all delivered through a website. The patient's functional level (Functional Independence Measure), quality of life (Euro-Qol), physical performance (Timed Up and Go), caregiver burden (Zarit Interview), and other descriptive data will be assessed at hospital discharge, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks. This project will add to the knowledge concerning the feasibility of tele-rehabilitation as an option to promote recovery of the pre-fracture functional level for some patients with a hip fracture. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02968589NCT.

Effectiveness of acute in-hospital physiotherapy with knee-extension strength training in reducing strength deficits in patients with a hip fracture: A randomised controlled trial.

QUESTION: Is acute in-hospital physiotherapy with additional progressive knee-extension strength training (ST) of the fractured limb more effective in reducing knee-extension strength deficit at follow-up compared to physiotherapy without strength training in patients with a hip fracture? DESIGN: Assessor blinded, randomised controlled trial with intention-to-treat analysis. PARTICIPANTS: 90 patients with a hip fracture admitted to an acute orthopaedic Hip Fracture Unit at a university hospital between October 2013 and May 2015. INTERVENTION: Daily physiotherapy with or without progressive knee-extension strength training (10RM), 3 x 10 repetitions, of the fractured limb using ankle weight cuffs conducted by ward physical therapists during hospital stay. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was the change in maximal isometric knee-extension strength in the fractured limb in percentage of the non-fractured limb from inclusion to postoperative day 10 or discharge (follow-up). Secondary outcome was Timed Up and Go test measured early after surgery and at follow-up. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis of between-group differences, the primary outcome improved 8.1% (95% CI -2.3; 18.4) by additional strength training from baseline to follow-up. In the per-protocol analysis of non-missing data, significant between-group improvements by 10.5% (95% CI 0.3; 20.7) were found in favour of additional ST. No significant between-group differences were found in any secondary outcome. CONCLUSION: Physiotherapy with addition of 5 sessions of ST yielded no additional improvements compared to physiotherapy without strength training in reducing the knee-extension strength deficit at follow-up in patients with a hip fracture. It is debatable whether larger improvements than the observed 8-10% can be expected given that only five exercise sessions, on average, were completed. In fragile patients with a hip fracture in the acute phase, where the ability to participate in functional exercise is compromised, we still consider early strength training a possibility to improve outcomes of clinical importance, given the results of the per-protocol analysis. The present data provides an important basis and call for future investigations including longer term interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00848913.

Physical Activity in the Acute Ward Following Hip Fracture Surgery is Associated with Less Fear of Falling.

Early mobilization following hip fracture surgery reduces medical complications and mortality, but may increase the risk of falling. The aim was to objectively measure the physical activity (time spent upright) the first week after hip fracture surgery and relate it to functional performance and fear of falling at discharge. The 24-hr upright time was measured for a median of six days using a thigh-worn accelerometer in 37 patients (mean 80 years ± 8.4) and increased from median 13 (IQR 6-31) min to 46 (11-107) min at day 7. More upright time at discharge was associated with less fear of falling (r = -.48, p = .01, n = 27), which also was associated with fast gait speed (r = -.50, p = .02, n = 23) and a faster Timed Up and Go test time (r = .54, p < .01, n = 22), indicating a need for further studies on motivation and limitations for more physical activity following hip fracture surgery.

Municipality-based physical rehabilitation after acute hip fracture surgery in Denmark.

INTRODUCTION: Patients who are surgically treated for an acute hip fracture in Denmark commence early in-hospital physical rehabilitation (PR) with more than 95% of patients referred to further PR following discharge. However, the specifics of the PR services after discharge are unknown. Thus, the aim of the present paper was to describe the specifics of PR provided to patients following discharge after hip fracture (HF) surgery in Denmark to evaluate the need for future interventions or guidelines. METHODS: This was a national, cross-sectional questionnaire survey including 56 randomly selected municipalities out of 98. Information was gathered on PR and categorised into outpatient PR (including one-to-one and group), home-based PR, 24-hour in-patient PR units and nursing homes. RESULTS: Sixty PR centres (97%) within 51 municipalities (91%) participated. The PR was initiated within 1-2 weeks after the municipality had received a referral from the hospital in 97% of the participating centres. The duration of PR was 8-12 weeks or 4-7 weeks in 85% of the centres, and most often comprised 1-2 training sessions per week. In all, 72% out of 56 municipalities returned a specific PR programme of which only 14% provided specific information regarding the intensity and the progression of training. CONCLUSION: PR after hip fracture in Denmark is initiated shortly after referral, for a variable duration of time and with poorly described exercise intensity and progression. This calls for a national description and implementation of an optimised PR programme according to the best available evidence. FUNDING: The study was supported by grants from The IMK Foundation, The Research Foundation of the Capital Region, The Research Foundation of the Danish Physical Therapy Organization, The Research Foundation of Hvidovre Hospital and The UCSF Lundbeck Foundation. The funding agencies had no influence on the study design, methods, subjects, data collection, analyses or on the manuscript. TRIAL REGISTRATION: not relevant.

Feasibility of progressive strength training implemented in the acute ward after hip fracture surgery.

IMPORTANCE: Patients with a hip fracture lose more than 50% knee-extension strength in the fractured limb within one week of surgery. Hence, immediate progressive strength training following hip fracture surgery may be rational, but the feasibility unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility of in-hospital progressive strength training implemented in the acute ward following hip fracture surgery, based on pre-specified criteria for feasibility. DESIGN, SETTING AND PATIENTS: A prospective cohort study conducted in an acute orthopedic hip fracture unit at a university hospital. A consecutive sample of 36 patients, 18 with a cervical and 18 with a trochanteric hip fracture (27 women and 9 men, mean (SD) age of 79.4 (8.3) years) were included between June and December 2012. INTERVENTION: A daily (on weekdays) program of progressive knee-extension strength training for the fractured limb, using ankle weight cuffs in 3 sets of 10 repetition maximum loadings. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was the change in training load (kg) during the knee-extension strength training. The secondary outcomes were changes in hip fracture-related pain and maximal isometric knee-extension strength. RESULTS: The strength training was commenced at a mean of 2.4 (0.7) days after surgery. The training loads (kilograms lifted) increased from 1.6 (0.8) to 4.3 (1.7) kg over 4.3 (2.2) training sessions (P<.001). The maximal isometric knee-extension strength of the fractured limb increased from 0.37 (0.2) to 0.61 (0.3) Nm/kg (P<.001), while the average strength deficit in the fractured limb decreased from 50% to 32% (% non-fractured, P<.001). Only 3 of 212 sessions were not performed because of severe hip fracture-related pain. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Progressive knee-extension strength training of the fractured limb commenced in the acute ward seems feasible, and may reduce strength asymmetry between limbs without hip pain interfering. The clinical efficacy needs confirmation in a randomized controlled design. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01616030.

Self-reported arm-lymphedema and functional impairment after breast cancer treatment--a nationwide study of prevalence and associated factors.

Lymphedema and impairment of function are well-established sequelae to breast cancer treatment and affect an increasing number of women due to continually improved survival. The aim of the present nationwide questionnaire study was to examine the impact of breast cancer treatment on perceived swelling/sensation of heaviness (lymphedema) and on function, reporting prevalence in 12 subgroups of modern treatment and offering estimates for treatment-related associated factors. 3253 Women (87%) returned the study questionnaire. Depending on treatment group prevalence of perceived swelling/heaviness varied from 13 to 65%. Associated factors were young age, axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and radiotherapy but not type of breast surgery or use of chemotherapy. Depending on treatment group 11-44% had to give up activities. Giving up activities was associated with pain and swelling/heaviness, younger age, ALND, chemotherapy, time elapsed since surgery, and surgery on the dominant side. Radiotherapy and type of breast surgery were of no importance.