Therapeutic Exercise for Hospitalized Sarcopenic Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Clinical Nutrition

Background:

• Sarcopenia, a skeletal muscle disorder, impairs function and increases mortality.
• Hospitalized patients have a high prevalence of sarcopenia, necessitating effective interventions.
• The efficacy of therapeutic exercise for hospitalized sarcopenic patients requires clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness of therapeutic exercises in hospitalized patients with sarcopenia or at risk.
• To evaluate the impact of exercise interventions on muscle strength, physical performance, and cognitive function.

Main Methods:

• Systematic search of Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus databases following PRISMA guidelines.
• Inclusion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on therapeutic exercises for hospitalized sarcopenic patients.
• Meta-analysis of outcomes including muscle strength, physical performance, and cognitive function; methodological quality assessed using TIDieR Checklist and ROB2.

Main Results:

• Six RCTs involving 1468 participants were included, primarily featuring resistance and balance exercises.
• Therapeutic exercises led to significant improvements in physical performance (p=0.002), muscle strength (p=0.03), and cognitive function (p=0.004).
• High heterogeneity (I² >98%) was observed across all analyzed outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Therapeutic exercises demonstrate potential benefits for improving sarcopenic outcomes in hospitalized individuals.
• Exercise serves as a viable non-pharmacological strategy to reduce sarcopenia-related complications in this population.
• Further high-quality, well-designed trials are necessary to confirm findings due to limited study numbers and methodological quality, and lack of muscle mass data.