Impact and feasibility of a group-based therapeutic exercise program on strength and endurance in hospitalized patients with spinal cord injury: a quasi-experimental study.
Aitor Garay-Sánchez, Mercedes Ferrando-Margelí, María Navarro-Segura and 5 others
PMID 41699614WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalized patients with spinal cord injury who added group exercise to their usual therapy reported high satisfaction and no safety issues.
Strength and walking distance scores rose, but without a control group it is impossible to say if the exercise itself caused these changes.
Key findings
01The group exercise program was delivered alongside, and did not replace, the standard individualized physiotherapy care.
02Participants reported high satisfaction with the treatment provided by the physiotherapist, with 98.21% giving high responses.
03The study design prevented causal inference because there was no comparison group and routine rehabilitation continued concurrently.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study used a single-group design with no control group, which prevents any conclusion about whether the exercise program caused the observed improvements. Participants continued to receive standard individualized physiotherapy, so the specific contribution of the group exercise component cannot be separated from the overall rehabilitation effect. The sample size of 57 patients was limited, and the statistical significance of many primary outcome changes was borderline or not robust. The study did not assess long-term outcomes such as community participation or the durability of the improvements after discharge. Heterogeneity in injury level and cause of injury introduced residual confounding that the statistical adjustments could not fully resolve.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or author conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the group exercise program caused the increases in strength and endurance. The study had no control group and participants continued their usual individual physiotherapy, so these gains may simply reflect the natural course of recovery or the effect of standard care.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →