Effect of Using a Reminder to Encourage Patients to be Active During Their Hospital Stay.

Overview

Around 30% of patients aged 65 and over experience functional decline due to hospitalization. Physical inactivity, often without medical justification, is common during hospital stays.This immobility leads to loss of autonomy, muscle strength, and increases post-discharge risks. Slow walking for 25-40 minutes daily significantly improves functional capacity. However, it could be difficult to reach this time of walking due to a lack of physiotherapist in hospital. A vibrating watch may encourage patients to walk or perform strengthening exercises. This simple intervention aims to improve function without requiring additional staff or resources

30% of patients aged 65 or older will experience a decline in functional capacity as a result of hospitalization. Illness and hospitalization increase sedentary behavior in patients. It is common for patients to spend long periods of time resting in bed, regardless of their primary reason for admission. During hospitalization, nearly 60% of episodes of bed rest have no documented medical indications. Low physical activity during hospitalization can lead to impaired independence, loss of muscle strength, and decreased functional capacity. These losses in frail individuals are associated with increased disability and lead to a critical 30-day period after hospital discharge that exacerbates deconditioning. This period of increasing functional vulnerability can lead to readmission to hospital, disability, institutionalization, morbidity, and early mortality. The results of a meta-analysis show that walking slowly for about 25-40 minutes per day is sufficient to improve patients' functional capacity during hospitalization. The organization of care to promote patient mobility must be reviewed to make patients more involved in their care and more independent. It has been demonstrated for some time that the use of a reminder system (e.g., alarm) is a factor that promotes increased patient adherence to their treatments. The advantage of a vibrating reminder is that it is simple to use, very inexpensive, easy to implement in all hospital wards, and does not require additional human resources. The main hypothesis of this study is that the use of a vibrating watch set to 6 reminders per day to prompt patients to perform muscle strengthening exercises or walk a distance determined by the rehabilitation professional will increase patients' functional capacity.