Effects of an Intensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Program in Elderly Patients with Obesity.
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.
['Budui|Simona|S|', 'Bigolin|Francesco|F|', 'Giordano|Francesca|F|', 'Leoni|Stefania|S|', 'Berteotti|Michela|M|', 'Sartori|Erica|E|', 'Franceschini|Laura|L|', 'Taddei|Micol|M|', 'Salvetti|Sabrina|S|', 'Castiglioni|Fulvio|F|', 'Gilli|Federica|F|', 'Skafidas|Spyros|S|', 'Schena|Federico|F|', 'Petroni|M Letizia|ML|', 'Busetto|Luca|L|']
D000328:Adult D000367:Age Factors D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D001521:Behavior Therapy D004035:Diet Therapy D015444:Exercise D005260:Female D006299:Health Services for the Aged D000077773:Hospitals, Rehabilitation D006801:Humans D007297:Inpatients D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009765:Obesity D000073319:Obesity Management D009767:Obesity, Morbid D010348:Patient Care Team D010809:Physical Fitness D011788:Quality of Life D016896:Treatment Outcome
Rehabilitation Obesity Ageing Multidimensional management Nutrition Physical activity