Walking as Soon as Possible Appears to Shorten Hospital Stays among People 70 and Older

© 2011 Peter Free

 

09 September 2011

 

 

Haifi University study

 

Rachel Feldman’s press release reported that:

 

The study surveyed 485 participants aged 70 and up, who were hospitalized for at least two days in the internal wards of a hospital in Israel.

 

The participants’ physical condition was examined by means of questionnaires and those who were confined to a bed or immobile were excluded from the study. Those who were not restricted in mobility were asked about their physical activity during the course of their hospitalization, and based on their answers were divided into two study groups: those who remained in bed or seated next to it and those who walked around their rooms and the ward.

 

The study found that all of the patients who walked around shortened their hospital stay by an average day and a half compared with those who did not exercise physical mobility.

 

The study also found that those who walked around the ward on the first day of hospitalization shortened their stay more than the others. The researchers stated that they found this to be relevant regardless of the patients’ health status.

 

© 2011 Rachel Feldman, Walking your way out of hospital, University of Haifa (08 August 2011)

 

 

Citation

 

Efrat Shadmi and Anna Zisberg, In-Hospital Mobility and Length of Stay, Archives of Internal Medicine 171(14): 1298 (25 July 2011)

 

 

What is not clear

 

The paper’s abstract and the university’s press release do not indicate whether the research controlled for level of illness, general decrepitude, or psychological factors.

 

 

Nevertheless

 

These caveats noted, my philosophy has always been that hospitals will kill you — if you don’t escape the sleep deprivation, frequently incompetent nursing, and always germ-infested milieu they impose.

 

As a consequence, I’m up and moving as vigorously as possible at the first opportunity.  Which in one case, involved repeatedly running up and down stairs just two days after non-laparoscopic abdominal surgery.  That hurt, but it was worth it.

 

(I am grateful to the surgeons who put me back together firmly enough that I didn’t discombobulate in carrying out my release strategies.)

 

This move-or-die attitude has gotten me out of hospitals 60 to 70 percent faster than surgeons had anticipated — even after a hip replacement, when a walker became my best (non-wife) friend.

 

 

The moral?

 

It is better (in my opinion) to soar (or plunge) painfully, while escaping medical establishments, than it is to expire quietly in beside-the-bed immobility chairs.

 

Your psyche may vary, but the above University of Haifa study should inspire motion.