A Pilot Home-Telehealth Program to Enhance Functional Ability, Physical Performance, and Physical Activity in Older Adult Veterans Post-Hospital Discharge.
Daniel Liebzeit, Kristin K Phillips, Robert V Hogikyan and 2 others
PMID 39589094WHAT IT FOUND
A 6-month home telehealth program with a physical activity trainer nearly doubled daily steps in older veterans post-discharge.
Functional ability and physical performance showed modest, non-significant improvements. High dropout rates and small sample size limit conclusions on efficacy.
Key findings
01Daily steps nearly doubled from baseline to endpoint, a statistically significant increase.
02Improvements in functional ability and physical performance were modest and did not reach statistical significance.
03Attrition was high, with 21 of 45 veterans who completed baseline assessments dropping out before the program ended.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was a small, non-randomized pilot with no control group, so it cannot determine if the program caused the improvements or if they occurred naturally. Attrition was high, with nearly half of the enrolled participants dropping out, which may bias results toward those who were healthier or more motivated. The sample was largely white males, limiting generalizability to other demographics. The intervention started only after post-discharge physical therapy was complete, meaning many participants had already received standard care, making it difficult to isolate the telehealth program's effect. Missing data were handled by pairwise deletion, which can reduce statistical power and introduce bias.
Declared interests
None reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant increase in steps as proof that the program improves functional independence or physical performance. Those outcomes did not show statistically significant changes, and the study lacked a control group to rule out natural recovery or concurrent therapies.