Exercise after hospital discharge improved physical function in older adults
A review of randomized trials found better physical function after discharge exercise. Improvements in quality of life and hospital readmissions remained uncertain.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
For older adults discharged after acute hospitalization, pooled trial results favored strength and endurance exercise for physical function. The review did not find statistically significant effects on health-related quality of life or readmission risk. Those uncertain results do not prove an absence of benefit, and evidence for several other health outcomes was insufficient for pooling.
Exercise protocols and assessment tools varied across studies. The abstract also omits comparator details and follow-up intervals, limiting how specifically the pooled physical-function result can be applied to a particular program or recovery period.
What researchers found
Pooled physical-function assessments
Standardized mean difference 0.78 (95% CI 0.52 to 1.05). Comparator details and assessment intervals are not reported in the abstract.
Reading the pooled result
The physical-function estimate uses a standardized mean difference, a shared statistical scale for combining different assessments. It describes a difference in measured function, without translating into a percentage improvement or a specific everyday task.
Other outcomes remain unsettled
Quality of life and readmission results were inconclusive. Functional independence, cognition, frailty and mortality were discussed descriptively because data were insufficient for pooling, so the physical-function finding cannot stand in for conclusions about those outcomes.
The original publication
Effectiveness of post-discharge exercise interventions in older adults following acute hospitalisation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Etayo-Urtasun P, Izquierdo M, Sáez de Asteasu ML
Lancet Healthy Longev · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40754363
- Record checked
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