The Association Between Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Subsequent Health Care Utilization in Older Men.

Langsetmo L, Kats AM, Cawthon PM, Cauley JA, Vo TN, Taylor BC, Stefanick ML, Lane NE, Stone KL, Orwoll ES, Schousboe JT, Ensrud KE, Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study Group. The Association Between Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Subsequent Health Care Utilization in Older Men. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. 2019 May 16; 74(6):820-826.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: To examine the associations between objective physical activity measures and subsequent health care utilization. METHODS: We studied 1,283 men (mean age 79.1 years, SD 5.3) participating in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study. Participants wore a SenseWear® Pro Armband monitor for 1 week. Data was summarized as daily (i) step counts, (ii) total energy expenditure, (iii) active energy expenditure, and (iv) activity time (sedentary, = light, = moderate). The outcome measures of 1-year hospitalizations/duration of stay from Medicare data were analyzed with a two-part hurdle model. Covariates included age, clinical center, body mass index, marital status, depressive symptoms, medical conditions, cognitive function, and prior hospitalization. RESULTS: Each 1 SD = 3,092 step increase in daily step count was associated with a 34% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 19%-46%) lower odds of hospitalization in base model (age and center) and 21% (95% CI: 4%-35%) lower odds of hospitalization in fully adjusted models. Similar but smaller associations held for other physical activity measures, but these associations were not significant in fully adjusted models. Among those hospitalized, higher step count was associated with shorter total duration of acute/postacute care stays in the base model only. There was a fourfold significant difference (from model-based estimates) in predicted care days comparing those with 2,000 versus 10,000 daily steps in the base model, but only a twofold difference (not significant) in the full model. CONCLUSION: Daily step count is an easily determined measure of physical activity that may be useful in assessment of future health care burden in older men.