Measuring activity levels associated with rehabilitative care in hospitalized older adults

Older adults often experience functional losses during hospitalization. Clinical care activities have been increasingly promoted as a way to help older hospitalized patients offset these losses and recover from acute illness. Little research exists to objectively measure clinical care activities. This study evaluated the utility and feasibility of using the Actiheart™, a combined heart rate monitor and accelerometer, to measure heart rate and motion (activity counts) during five clinical care activities. Fifty-four adults, aged 65 and older, scheduled for surgery, participated in a simulation of activities. The Actiheart™ successfully measured motion and heart rate during each of the five activities. One-way repeated measures analyses of variance showed that the Actiheart™ discriminated significant differences within and across the five activities. This study supports the use of an activity monitor to quantify clinical care activities in research studies that can be translated into clinical care. However, the complexity associated with data collection and analysis using the Actiheart™ could limit its direct use in clinical research.