According to a pooled data analysis of available evidence published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, just 25 minutes a day of slow walking is enough to offset the negative physical effects of bedrest on older hospital patients.
For the best improvements in physical function, the analysis indicates that about 50 minutes a day of slow walking or around 40 minutes of combined physical activities, such as 20 minutes of resistance bands and around 20 minutes of aerobic activity, are the most effective.
However, the analysis finds that there may be a threshold effect, with no clear benefit for ‘doses’ of more than 90 minutes a day of light intensity or 60 minutes a day of moderate intensity physical activity.
The level of inactivity experienced by older people admitted to the hospital, even those who can walk unaided, can cause ‘post hospital syndrome,’ a period of vulnerability after discharge associated with general physical deconditioning. This can have various consequences if not actively managed, including readmission, disability, the need for nursing home care, illness, or death.
Recent research indicates that getting older hospital patients out of bed and moving about can help prevent physical decline, but it’s not clear what type of activity or how much of it might be most effective.
To find out, the researchers looked for published clinical trials involving people over the age of 50 admitted to the hospital for a serious illness and prescribed any form of physical activity during their stay.
Nineteen clinical trials involving 3842 participants published between 2000 and 2022 were included in the final analysis, and it revealed that the minimum ‘dose’ required to counter the effects of bedrest and improve older inpatients’ functional capacity was estimated to be around 40 minutes a day of light intensity physical activity or around 25 minutes a day of moderate intensity physical activity.
And the optimal ‘dose’ was estimated to be 70 minutes a day of light intensity or around 40 minutes a day of moderate intensity physical activity.
As for the best type of physical activity to prevent physical decline, a mix of physical activity in any one daily session and slow-paced walking were deemed the most effective.
But walking alone was more than 80% effective, with the optimal dose reached at around 50 minutes a day, and the minimal effective dose reached at 25 minutes a day.
These findings provide critical information to support the use of physical activity as a core part of the daily routine of acutely hospitalized older adults.