Obesity Facts (Mar 2019)

Effects of an Intensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Program in Elderly Patients with Obesity

  • Simona Budui,
  • Francesco Bigolin,
  • Francesca Giordano,
  • Stefania Leoni,
  • Michela Berteotti,
  • Erica Sartori,
  • Laura Franceschini,
  • Micol Taddei,
  • Sabrina Salvetti,
  • Fulvio Castiglioni,
  • Federica Gilli,
  • Spyros Skafidas,
  • Federico Schena,
  • M. Letizia Petroni,
  • Luca Busetto

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1159/000497461
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 2
pp. 199 – 210

Abstract

Read online

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the short-term effectiveness of an intensive inpatient multidimensional rehabilitation program (MRP), including diet, exercise, and behavioral therapy, in elderly patients with severe obesity. Methods: Forty-four elderly patients (old; age 69.3 ± 3.5 years, BMI 41.9 ± 14.9) were analyzed against 215 younger patients (young; age 48.2 ± 18.5 years, BMI 43.9 ± 9.4), who were used as controls. All patients underwent MRP, based on group therapy guided by a multidisciplinary team (physicians, dietitians, exercise trainers, psychologists). We evaluated changes in anthropometry, cardiovascular risk factors, physical fitness, quality of life, and eating behavior. Results: After 3 weeks of MRP, we observed a reduction in body weight (old –3.8%, young –4.3%), BMI (old –3.9%, young –4.4%), waist circumference (old –3.4%, young –4.1%), total cholesterol (old –14.0%, young –15.0%), and fasting glucose (old –8.3%, young –8.1%), as well as improved performance in the Six-Minute-Walk Test (old +28.7%, young +15.3%), chair-stand test (old +24.8%, young +26.9%), and arm-curl test (old +15.2%, young +27.3%). Significant improvement was registered in all other analyzed domains. Conclusion: Our 3-week MRP provided significant clinical and functional improvement, which was similar between elderly and younger patients with severe obesity. In the long-term, this may be translated into better quality of life, through better management of obesity-associated morbidities and reduced frailty.

Keywords