Posted on
18 January 2025
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1 minute
This work, supported by ACHA Professor Adam Gordon and led by University of Nottingham physiotherapist and PhD student Meri Westlake, looked at the published literature on Hospital Acquired Deconditioning.
This is a term used in clinical practice to describe a loss of physical and/or mental function associated during a period of hospitalisation. It has been the focus of national campaigns and initiatives to improve outcomes for older people.
The literature review looked at the findings from 103 published articles. It found that, across these, hospital acquired deconditioning was usually very poorly defined and there was substantial disagreement over how it should be diagnosed.
This important finding means that clinicians, who intuitively recognise hospital acquired deconditioning and want to do things to avoid it, must focus on shared terminology and approaches. This will make establishing treatments and measuring success much more straightforward.
You can read more about the work here.