Wearable Technology To Reduce Sedentary Behavior And CVD Risk In Older Adults: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Physical exercise is associated with decreased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, but recent large-scale trials suggest that exercise alone is insufficient to reduce CVD events in high-risk older adults.

Purpose: This pilot randomized clinical trial aimed to collect critical data on feasibility, safety, and protocol integrity necessary to design a fully powered randomized controlled trial (RCT) and evaluate the impact of combining structured exercise with an intervention designed to enhance non-exercise physical activity (EX+NEPA) compared to EX alone.

Methods: Forty participants aged ≥60 years with moderate-to-high risk of coronary heart disease events were randomly assigned to either the EX+NEPA or EX groups and followed for 20 weeks.

Prognostic value of NT-proBNP levels in the acute phase of sepsis on lower long-term physical function and muscle strength in sepsis survivors.

Background: Sepsis survivors often develop chronic critical illness (CCI) and demonstrate the persistent inflammation, immunosuppression, and catabolism syndrome predisposing them to long-term functional limitations and higher mortality. There is a need to identify biomarkers that can predict long-term worsening of physical function to be able to act early and prevent mobility loss. N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a well-accepted biomarker of cardiac overload, but it has also been shown to be associated with long-term physical function decline.

Blood-Flow Restriction Resistance Exercise for Older Adults with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

In a pilot randomized clinical trial, participants aged ≥60 years ( = 35) with physical limitations and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) were randomized to 12 weeks of lower-body low-load resistance training with blood-flow restriction (BFR) or moderate-intensity resistance training (MIRT) to evaluate changes in muscle strength, pain, and physical function. Four exercises were performed three times per week to volitional fatigue using 20% and 60% of one repetition maximum (1RM). Study outcomes included knee extensor strength, gait speed, Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) performance, and pain via the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index (WOMAC).

Multimodal Intervention to Improve Functional Status in Hypertensive Older Adults: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was designed to provide the preliminary data necessary to conduct a full-scale trial to compare the efficacy of differing first-line antihypertensive medications in improving functional status in older adults, when combined with exercise. The primary objectives were to assess study feasibility, safety, and protocol integrity. Dependent outcomes included gait speed, exercise capacity, body composition, and systemic cardiometabolic biomarkers.

The Development of Chronic Critical Illness Determines Physical Function, Quality of Life, and Long-Term Survival Among Early Survivors of Sepsis in Surgical ICUs.

Objectives: This study sought to examine mortality, health-related quality of life, and physical function among sepsis survivors who developed chronic critical illness.

Design: Single-institution, prospective, longitudinal, observational cohort study assessing 12-month outcomes.

Setting: Two surgical/trauma ICUs at an academic tertiary medical and level 1 trauma center.