Functional Later Rehabilitation in Older Adults: Effectiveness of Physical Exercises

Summary

Hip fractures resulting from falls increase substantially with advancing age and less than a half of the elderly that have sustained and survived after the surgery regain their former levels of mobility. There is increasing evidence that rehabilitation interventions involving exercises and extended beyond the sub acute phase or even in a later stage of care have a positive impact on various functional abilities. The purpose of this study is to determine if an exercise program training for people who have suffered a fall-related hip fracture will improve functional mobility when compared with usual care. Randomized controlled trial using blinded assessors and intention-to-treat analysis. We will recruit 82 older adults, 60 years or over who have suffered a hip fracture due to a fall and have or have not completed physiotherapy and/or rehabilitation. These participants will be in a later stage rehabilitation phase (6 months up to 2 years after the fracture). Participants randomized to the Intervention Group (IG) will be submitted to a physical exercise program involving a progressive and challenging balance training and a neuromuscular and functional training of the lower limbs, conducted at home by physiotherapists, once a week, lasting about one hour, in the first, second and third month after randomization and will be oriented to perform exercises, twice a week, through a booklet. Visits to follow up exercises progression will be conducted once a month, from de fourth to the sixth month and each two months until the end of the follow up at the 12th month, summing up 18 sessions. Participants will receive monthly phone calls to increase exercise adherence. The control group will receive usual care. The primary outcome will be mobility-related disability and participants will be assessed in the baseline, at the end of the intervention (3 months), at 6 and 12 months. The participants will receive monthly phone calls to investigate falls and exercise adherence. Adverse effects will be monitored.

Conditions

• Hip Fractures

Interventions

OTHER

Home-based physical exercise intervention

Progressive strengthening of muscle groups ankle dorsi flexors, knee extensors and hip abductors and progressive balance training according to individual capacity:weight-bearing, limits of stability, change of position/direction, maintenance of static and dynamic stability, anticipatory adjustments using different bases of support and different sensory conditions. Dynamic exercises involving spin on its own axis, sitting and standing, up and down stairs, functional reach, steps in different directions and walk training. In the first session the physiotherapist will choose two exercises that best address the participant function goals and will add more exercises each week according to the level of participants' ability and motivation. Participants will receive a detailed booklet, containing photos and instructions of the12 exercises.Visits to follow up exercises will be conducted by the physiotherapists to progress the exercises.

OTHER

Control Group Usual Care

This group will receive usual care and will not have any disadvantage in participating in the study. We understand that usual care is what participant receives based on the network of health care in which he/she is inserted. The participants will receive at baseline assessment a diary falls logbook and a guidance booklet containing information about prevention of falls, fractures and bone health that will be explained at the moment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidade Cidade de Sao Paulo

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Monica R Perracini, Phd · Universidade Cidade de São Paulo

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-11-30

Primary Completion

2018-11-30

Completion

2019-12-31

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations