Exercise with physically restrained nursing home residents: maximizing benefits of restraint reduction

To evaluate an exercise protocol designed to improve strength and mobility, and to decrease injury risk factors in physically restrained nursing home residents.

A randomized controlled trial.

Ninety-seven residents were randomized into either exercise or control groups. Thirty-five exercise and 37 control group residents completed all post-assessments after a 9-week trial.

Walking or wheelchair movement training was supplemented by rowing exercise three times per week. Practice in behaviors related to safe movement was provided incidental to the exercise.

Endurance, speed, and injury risk measures relevant to walking, wheelchair propulsion, and standing were assessed by standardized protocols. Rowing endurance, rowing range of motion, and handgrip strength measures were collected to assess the effect of the rowing component of the exercise protocol.

Fifty-four percent of the subjects who provided consent did not complete the protocol because of health status changes, lack of cooperation, or physical limitations that precluded exercise. The subjects who completed the exercise program showed significant improvement on injury risk and measures related to upper body strength (handgrip strength, rowing endurance, wheelchair endurance, and speed). Measures related to lower body strength did not significantly improve.

Physically restrained residents are very frail, and it is difficult to implement a long-term exercise program with many residents because of the frailty. However, a substantial proportion of residents did cooperate well with the exercise program and showed improvement on measures correlated with decreased injury risk. The exercise program could be easily modified to include more lower body exercise, and the resultant protocol would be an important adjunct to restraint reduction programs.