NCT04892368

Efficacy of Preoperative Prehabilitation With a Home-based Supervised Exercise Program Against an Unsupervised Exercise Program for Frail Elderly Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgery

Prospective Single-centre Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate Preoperative Home-based Supervised Exercise Program for Prehabilitation of Frail Elderly Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgery, Against Current Home-based Unsupervised Exercise Program.

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 140 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Singapore General Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Singapore's population is ageing, and more elderly people are undergoing elective major surgeries. Frail elderly experience greater functional decline and slower recovery in physical function after surgery compared to non-frail elderly. Preoperative prehabilitation aims to enhance both aerobic capacity and physical strength of elderly to attenuate the post-operative decline in physical function. Singapore General Hospital has a bespoke preoperative program - Prehabilitation for Elderly Frail Patients Undergoing Elective Surgeries (PREPARE), where patients receive physiotherapy education and instructions for home-based unsupervised exercise program (uSEP). A hospital-based supervised exercise program had also been established but the take-up rate was low (7.6%) due to barriers such as cost and accessibility. Perioperative supervised exercise training can effect greater gains in functional capacity and muscle strength compared to no supervision. For the elderly with limited transport options to the hospital, home-based supervised programmes may be more convenient compared to hospital-based supervised programmes, but the former is costlier too. Home-interventions may also empower patients with the skills and confidence to maintain their physical fitness at home, which increases their likelihood of exercising after surgery. The investigators propose a prospective single-center randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of preoperative prehabilitation with a home-based supervised exercise program (SEP) for frail elderly patients undergoing major abdominal surgery, compared to the mainstay of clinical practice, which is a home-based uSEP.

Conditions

• Frail Elderly Syndrome
• Frailty
• Surgery

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Home-based supervised exercise program	Combination of aerobic and strength training exercises, in addition to home exercise instructions issued during preoperative physiotherapy education.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-04-10
• Primary completion: 2023-05-01
• Completion: 2023-12-01
• First posted: 2021-05-19
• Last updated: 2021-06-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Singapore