DESIGNING A TOOL TO MEASURE THE LEVEL OF DECONDITIONING IN HOSPITALIZED ELDERLY PATIENTS

Authors: Sobiya Desai, Kusha Gherwara, Sawani Aphale, Sandeep Shinde, Poonam Misal

DOI: 10.18231/j.ijfcm.11648.1759120023

Keywords: Hospital-Acquired Deconditioning, Geriatric patients, Assessment Tool, Physical function, Balance, Functional independence

Abstract: Background: Extended hospital stays can cause severe deconditioning in elderly individuals, which may impact their general health and physical function. This research evaluates how successfully a therapeutic reconditioning program works to reduce deconditioning in elderly hospital patients when compared to traditional functional bed transition training. Objectives: The study's objective was to design a tool that measures multiple levels of deconditioned hospitalized elderly patients and to validate the tool on hospitalized elderly patients. Method: Two groups of 262 elderly patients (60 years of age and older) were recruited and randomized to receive routine functional bed transition training (Group A) (n=131) and a gradual therapeutic reconditioning treatment (Group B) (n=131) over a four-week period. Prior to and following the intervention, 5 domains of physical function were assessed using the Deconditioning Assessment Tool for Hospitalized Elderly Patients (DAT-HEP) in order to validate the tool. Results: On every outcome metric, both groups showed improvements. In contrast to Group A (conventional group), Group B (experimental group) showed much larger improvements in cardiovascular health, balance and mobility, muscle strength, endurance, and functional independence (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: A new assessment tool, DAT-HEP, was developed in this study to evaluate deconditioning in hospitalized elderly patients. It proved to be a reliable and effective assessment tool for evaluating and tracking deconditioning in hospitalized elderly patients. Its clinical application was validated through extensive literature review and expert consultations, inter-rater reliability testing, and correlation with current tools.