Jérôme Maire ^A1, Anne-Françoise Faillenet-Maire ^A3, Céline Grange ^A1, Benoit Dugué ^A1, Nicolas Tordi ^A1, Bernard Parratte ^A6, Jean-Denis Rouillon ^A1
A1 Laboratoire des Sciences du Sport Besançon France
^A2 ORTON Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation for Invalids Helsinki Finland
^A3 Centre de Réadaptation Fonctionnelle Service de Rééducation Gériatrique Quingey France
^A4 Minerva Institute for Medical Research Helsinki Finland
^A5 EA 2253, Université de Poitiers France
^A6 Service d'Exploration Fonctionnelle Neuro-Musculaire Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Besançon France

DOI: 10.1080/16501970310021383

Objective : To investigate the influence of an arm-interval exercise program for the upper limbs on health status and walking ability in elderly patients after total hip arthroplasty. Design : A randomized controlled investigation. After surgery, a control group started a general rehabilitation program, and a training group combined it with an arm-interval exercise program. Subjects : Fourteen patients (age 75. 1 ± 4. 8 years) were randomly assigned to the control group (n = 7) and the training group (n = 7). Methods : A Western Ontario and MacMaster University (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index was completed and an incremental exercise test on an arm crank ergometer was also performed 1 month before (T -1 ) and 2 months after surgery (T 2 ). Moreover, a 6-minute walk test was performed at T 2 . Results : Both groups significantly improved all dimensions of WOMAC, except in WOMAC physical function subscale in the control group. The training group covered a significantly longer distance in the walking test than the control group and also presented significantly higher &Vdot;O 2 peak value at T 2 . Correlation analyses indicate that &Vdot;O 2 peak value and the distance covered in the 6-minute walking test were significantly associated with functional status. After calculating the ratio distance covered/score at WOMAC physical function, we observed a significantly higher ratio value in the training group than in the control group. Conclusion : Preliminary results indicate that the improvement in physical fitness and functional status of the training group seems to be associated with better health status.