Sarcoidosis causes many disabling symptoms, including fatigue and exercise limitations, which have been shown to improve by physical activity programs. The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of continuous activity monitoring using an electronic activity tracker (AT) on exercise performance and fatigue of sarcoidosis patients, compared to controls (cohort study), and the effect of additional personal coaching (randomized trial) over a period of 3 months. Fifty-four sarcoidosis patients received an AT (Group Ia: 27 with coaching and Group Ib: 27 without). A historical group of sarcoidosis patients (Group II; n = 41) who did not follow a physical activity program served as controls. Exercise performance of patients wearing an AT (Group I) improved compared with controls (Group II), including the 6MWD, % predicted (∆4.4 ± 9.1 versus ∆0.7 ± 5.0, respectively), and fatigue levels decreased (∆−3.9 ± 5.7 versus ∆−1.8 ± 5.3). Patients with coaching (Group Ia) showed greater improvement of exercise capacity over time than patients without coaching (Group Ib) as shown by the Steep Ramp Test results (watts: ∆20.2 ± 33.8 versus ∆5.7 ± 26.4; and SRT, VO2max, % predicted: ∆1.6 ± 2.6 versus ∆0.7 ± 2.3). Sarcoidosis patients wearing an AT achieved improvement of exercise performance and reduction of fatigue. We therefore recommend encouraging sarcoidosis patients to wear an AT to stimulate physical activity and reduce fatigue. The additional benefit of coaching needs to be explored in future studies.

Background One of the most important steps before implementing short stay total hip arthroplasty (THA) is establishing patient criteria. Most existing criteria are mainly based on medical condition, but as physical functioning is associated with outcome after THA, we aim to evaluate the added value of a measure of physical functioning to predict short-stay THA. Methods We used retrospective data of 1559 patients who underwent an anterior THA procedure. Logistic regression analyses were performed to study the predictive value of preoperative variables among which preoperative physical functioning by use of the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) for short stay THA (< 36 h). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and Youden Index were used to define a cutoff point for TUG associated with short stay THA. Results TUG was significantly associated with LOS (OR 0.84, 95%CI 0.82–0.87) as analyzed by univariate regression analysis. In multivariate regression, a model with the TUG had a better performance with an AUC of 0.77 (95%CI 0.74–0.79) and a R2 of 0.27 compared to the basic model (AUC 0.75, 95%CI 0.73–0.77, R2 0.24). Patients with a preoperative TUG less than 9.7 s had an OR of 4.01 (95%CI 3.19–5.05) of being discharged within 36 h. Conclusions Performance based physical functioning, measured by the TUG, is associated with short stay THA. This knowledge will help in the decision-making process for the planning and expectations in short stay THA protocols with the advantage that the TUG is a simple and fast instrument to be carried out.

BackgroundEstablishing patient criteria is one of the most important steps before implementing short stay total hip arthroplasty (THA). Most existing risk models are mainly based on medical condition, but as physical functioning is associated with outcome after THA, we assume a measure of physical functioning might be of added value to predict short-stay THA.MethodsWe used retrospective data of 1559 patients who had anterior THA. Logistic regression analyses were done to study the predictive value of preoperative physical functioning by use of the Timed Up and Go test (TUG), in a basic model with age, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)-score for short stay THA (<36 hours). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was use to define a cut off point for TUG associated with LOS.Results TUG was significantly associated with LOS (OR 0.84, 95%CI 0.82-0.87) in univariate regression analysis. In multivariate regression, a model with the TUG had a better performance with an AUC of 0.77 (95%CI 0.74-0.79) and R2 of 0.27 then the basic model (AUC 0.75, 95% CI 0.73-0.77, R2 0.24). Patients with a preoperative TUG less than 10 seconds had an OR of 3.64 (95%CI 2.86-4.62) of being discharged within 36 hours.ConclusionsPerformance based physical functioning, measured by the TUG, is associated with short stay THA. This knowledge will help in the decision-making process for the planning, expectations and needs in outpatient THA protocols with the advantage that the TUG is a simple and fast instrument to be carried out.