Key result
Accelerometer-measured physical activity correlated poorly with chart-documented walking distance (r = 0.24) and was not associated with the use or duration of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis.
Why the study?
This study evaluated electronic health record documentation of physical activity, its correlation with accelerometer-derived data, and its relationship to venous thromboembolism prophylaxis use.
Does measured physical activity correlate with documented walking distance and influence VTE prophylaxis use in hospitalized older adults?
Observational (n=65)
No
Does measured physical activity correlate with documented walking distance and influence VTE prophylaxis use in hospitalized older adults?
In hospitalized older adults, actual physical activity correlates poorly with chart documentation and does not appear to influence the use or duration of VTE prophylaxis despite guideline recommendations.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Chart-documented walking distance poorly reflects actual activity and does not guide VTE prophylaxis; leaves open whether objective measures should inform decisions in older inpatients.
This study describes the availability of physical activity information in the electronic health record, explores how electronic health record documentation correlates with accelerometer-derived physical activity data, and examines whether measured physical activity relates to venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis use. Prospective observational data comes from community-dwelling older adults admitted to general medicine (n = 65). Spearman correlations were used to examine association of accelerometer-based daily step count with documented walking distance and with duration of VTE prophylaxis. Only 52% of patients had documented walking in nursing and/or physical therapy/occupational therapy notes during the first three hospital days. Median daily steps recorded via accelerometer was 1,370 (interquartile range = 854, 2,387) and correlated poorly with walking distance recorded in physical therapy/occupational therapy notes (median 33 feet/day [interquartile range = 12, 100]; r = .24; p = .27). Activity measures were not associated with use or duration of VTE prophylaxis. VTE prophylaxis use does not appear to be directed by patient activity, for which there is limited documentation.
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Pavon et al. (2019) conducted an observational in Hospitalized older adults (n=65). Accelerometer-measured physical activity was evaluated on Correlation of accelerometer-based daily step count with documented walking distance in physical therapy/occupational therapy notes (r = 0.24, p=0.27). Accelerometer-measured physical activity correlated poorly with chart-documented walking distance (r = 0.24) and was not associated with the use or duration of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis.
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