Physical Therapy to reduce disability
Physical Therapy Helps Elderly Stave Off Disability
20/05/10 10:59
Excerpt By Alison McCook, Reuter's Health
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Physical therapy may help prevent physical declines in older, frail people, study findings suggest.
Lead author Dr. Thomas M. Gill of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, said that these results suggest that it is possible for some older people to stave off the disabilities that their weakened state puts them at risk of developing.
"We want to identify older persons who are at risk of being disabled...and try to prevent those outcomes," he told Reuters Health.
Reporting in the October 3rd issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Gill and his colleagues followed 188 frail patients at least 75 years old, half of whom received a physical therapy program designed to improve their balance, muscle strength and movement.
The remaining patients underwent an educational program, during which healthcare workers visited them and informed them about general health recommendations for the elderly, such as obtaining vaccinations and remaining physically active.
Both programs consisted of home visits by a healthcare worker during the first 6 months, then regular phone calls for an additional 6 months.
The investigators found that patients who completed the physical therapy program reported less disability than their peers at both 7 months and 12 months after the program began.
See full article here
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Physical therapy may help prevent physical declines in older, frail people, study findings suggest.
"We want to identify older persons who are at risk of being disabled...and try to prevent those outcomes," he told Reuters Health.
Reporting in the October 3rd issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Gill and his colleagues followed 188 frail patients at least 75 years old, half of whom received a physical therapy program designed to improve their balance, muscle strength and movement.
The remaining patients underwent an educational program, during which healthcare workers visited them and informed them about general health recommendations for the elderly, such as obtaining vaccinations and remaining physically active.
Both programs consisted of home visits by a healthcare worker during the first 6 months, then regular phone calls for an additional 6 months.
The investigators found that patients who completed the physical therapy program reported less disability than their peers at both 7 months and 12 months after the program began.
See full article here
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