Jérôme Maire, Benoit Dugué, Anne-Françoise Faillenet-Maire, Nicolas Tordi, Bernard Parratte, Juhani Smolander, Jean-Denis Rouillon
^A1 Laboratoire des Sciences du Sport UFRSTAPS Besançon France
^A2 ORTON Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation for Invalids Helsinki Finland
^A3 Minerva Institute for Medical Research Biomedicum Helsinki Finland
^A4 Centre de Réadaptation Fonctionnelle Service de Rééducation Gériatrique Quingey France
^A5 Service d'Exploration Fonctionnelle Neuro-Musculaire Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Besançon France

DOI: 10.1080/16501970306127

Objective: To evaluate the influence of an interval training program for the upper limbs on cardiorespiratory fitness and walking ability in elderly patients after total hip joint arthroplasty. Design: A randomized controlled trial. After surgery, control and training groups started general rehabilitation. Training group combined it with an arm-interval exercise program (3 sessions of 30 minutes per week, for 6 weeks). Subjects: Patients were assigned randomly to control (n = 7) and training groups (n = 7). Methods: Incremental exercise tests were carried out until exhaustion on an arm crank ergometer 1 month before and 2 months after surgery. A 6-minute walk test was also performed 2 months after surgery. Results: <$>dot{V}O_{2}<$> peak increased significantly in the training group (p = 0. 0424) and did not change in the control group. The difference in <$>dot{V}O_{2}<$> peak change between the groups was significant (p = 0. 0362, +19. 2% in the training group and -3. 5% in the control group). In the walking test the training group covered a significantly longer distance than did the control group (p = 0. 0055, 396. 4 metres and 268. 1 metres, respectively). Conclusion: These results stress the importance of physical training in a rehabilitation program after total hip joint arthroplasty and this should be considered for improving the current practices in rehabilitation.