Effect of Electronic Activity Monitors and Pedometers on Health: Results from the TAME Health Pilot Randomized Pragmatic Trial.

Background: Brief counseling and self-monitoring with a pedometer are common practice within primary care for physical activity promotion. It is unknown how high-tech electronic activity monitors compare to pedometers within this setting. This study aimed to investigate the outcomes, through effect size estimation, of an electronic activity monitor-based intervention to increase physical activity and decrease cardiovascular disease risk. Method: The pilot randomized controlled trial was pre-registered online at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02554435). Forty overweight, sedentary participants 55-74 years of age were randomized to wear a pedometer or an electronic activity monitor for 12 weeks. Physical activity was measured objectively for 7 days at baseline and follow-up by a SenseWear monitor and cardiovascular disease risk was estimated by the Framingham risk calculator. Results: Effect sizes for behavioral and health outcomes ranged from small to medium. While these effect sizes were favorable to the intervention group for physical activity (PA) (d = 0.78) and general health (d = 0.39), they were not favorable for measures. Conclusion: The results of this pilot trial show promise for this low-intensity intervention strategy, but large-scale trials are needed to test its efficacy.

Social Support and Actual Versus Expected Length of Stay in Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities.

OBJECTIVES: To describe impairment-specific patterns in shorter- and longer-than-expected lengths of stay in inpatient rehabilitation, and examine the independent effects of social support on deviations from expected lengths of stay. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Inpatient rehabilitation facilities. PARTICIPANTS: Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries (N=119,437) who were discharged from inpatient rehabilitation facilities in 2012 after stroke, lower extremity fracture, or lower extremity joint replacement. INTERVENTION: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Relative length of stay (actual minus expected). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services posts annual expected lengths of stay based on patients' clinical profiles at admission. We created a 3-category outcome variable: short, expected, long. Our primary independent variable (social support) also included 3 categories: family/friends, paid/other, none. RESULTS: Mean ± SD actual lengths of stay for joint replacement, fracture, and stroke were 9.8±3.6, 13.8±4.5, and 15.8±7.3 days, respectively; relative lengths of stay were -1.2±3.1, -1.6±3.7, and -1.7±5.2 days. Nearly half of patients (47%-48%) were discharged more than 1 day earlier than expected in all 3 groups, whereas 14% of joint replacement, 15% of fracture, and 20% of stroke patients were discharged more than 1 day later than expected. In multinomial regression analysis, using family/friends as the reference group, paid/other support was associated (P<.05) with higher odds of long stays in joint replacement. No social support was associated with lower odds of short stays in all 3 impairment groups and higher odds of long stays in fracture and joint replacement. CONCLUSIONS: Inpatient rehabilitation experiences and outcomes can be substantially affected by a patient's level of social support. More research is needed to better understand these relationships and possible unintended consequences in terms of patient access issues and provider-level quality measures.

The Role of Physical Activity and Physical Function on the Risk of Falls in Older Mexican Americans.

We investigated the relationship between physical activity and physical function on the risk of falls over time in a cohort of Mexican-American adults aged 75 and older from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE). Participants were divided into four groups according to their level of physical activity and physical function: low physical activity and low physical function (n = 453); low physical activity and high physical function (n = 54); high physical activity and low physical function (n = 307); and high physical activity and high physical function (n = 197). Using generalized linear equation estimation, we showed that participants with high physical activity and low physical function had a greater fall risk over time, followed by the high physical activity and high physical function group. Participants seldom took part in activities that improve physical function. To prevent falls, modifications to physical activity should be made for older Mexican Americans.

Using an electronic activity monitor system as an intervention modality: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a growing global health concern that may lead to cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and cancer. Several systematic reviews have shown that technology is successful in combating obesity through increased physical activity, but there is no known review on interventions that use an electronic activity monitor system (EAMS). EAMSs are defined as a wearable device that objectively measures lifestyle physical activity and can provide feedback, beyond the display of basic activity count information, via the monitor display or through a partnering application to elicit continual self-monitoring of activity behavior. These devices improve upon standard pedometers because they have the ability to provide visual feedback on activity progression, verbal encouragement, and social comparison. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the efficacy and feasibility results of EAMSs within published physical activity interventions. METHODS: Electronic databases and journal references were searched for relevant articles. Data sources included CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Medline Ovid, PsycINFO, and clinicaltrials.gov. Out of the 1,574 retrieved, 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. These articles were reviewed for quality and content based on a risk of bias tool and intervention components. RESULTS: Most articles were determined to be of medium quality while two were of low quality, and one of high quality. Significant pre-post improvements in the EAMS group were found in five of nine studies for physical activity and in four of five studies for weight. One found a significant increase in physical activity and two studies found significant weight loss in the intervention group compared with the comparator group. The EAMS interventions appear to be feasible with most studies reporting continual wear of the device during waking hours and a higher retention rate of participants in the EAMS groups. CONCLUSION: These studies provide preliminary evidence suggesting that EAMS can increase physical activity and decrease weight significantly, but their efficacy compared to other interventions has not yet been demonstrated. More high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to evaluate the overall effect of EAMS, examine which EAMS features are most effective, and determine which populations are most receptive to an EAMS.