Background: Physical health status may be predictive of readmissions, psychological health and mortality in patients with short bowel syndrome. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and effect of an individualized exercise intervention and secondary, oral nutrition intake counseling on Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) and 30 s Chair Stand Test (CST) as well as body-composition and EuroQol (EQ)-5D-5L, in patients with chronic intestinal failure (IF) type III receiving HPN and/or fluid therapy. Methods: A 12-week individualized exercise intervention consisting on three weekly home based sessions, and nutrition counselling focusing on protein intake and reducing high stoma output, was performed. Weekly follow-up by phone was done on motivation to exercise. Results: The study invited 71 patients, 44 accepted the invitation (62%), 37(52%) were included, and 31 (84%) completed the intervention. The exercise intervention was well tolerated. TUG improved from 8.9(SD 5.5) to 7.7(SD 3.8) (p ¼ 0.033). CST improved by four repetitions (<0.001*). A statistical, however not clinically relevant improvement was seen in muscle mass. No improvement was seen in (EQ)-5D-5L total, but insignificantly (p ¼ 0.055) for physical function only. Protein intake improved by 10.6 g/day (p ¼ 0.008). Conclusions: A 12 weeks individualized exercise intervention showed very feasible and beneficial in HPN patients. Physical function improved statistically and clinically, and oral protein intake improved. QoL overall did not improve, however COVID-19 was an uninvited partner throughout the study period, which may have influenced general QoL. As only 62% accepted the invitation to participate, home based exercise intervention may not apply to all patients.

Introduction Patients with chronic intestinal failure (IF) have a low degree of physical activity, decreased muscle mass, and decreased muscle strength, leading to a high risk of sarcopenia. We aimed to test the prevalence of sarcopenia by the use of SARC‐F and EWGSOP and to investigate the association between the two at baseline and after 12 weeks of an exercise intervention. Methods Thirty‐one patients with chronic IF completed 12 weeks of three weekly home‐based individualized exercise sessions. Body composition was measured by bioimpedance analysis and physical function by handgrip strength (HGS) and timed up‐and‐go (TUG). Sarcopenia was assessed by SARC‐F and EWGSOP. Multiple regression analysis was used to test for the association between the two tools. Results The prevalence of sarcopenia measured by EWGSOP was 59%. This prevalence did not change after the intervention. At baseline, 38.8% of patients were screened as at risk for sarcopenia by SARC‐F. This decreased to 29.0% after the intervention (P < 0.001). A statistically significant increase was achieved in muscle mass (P = 0.017) and muscle mass index (P = 0.016). Furthermore, both TUG (P = 0.033) and HGS (P = 0.019) improved. Conclusions Sarcopenia is prevalent in patients with chronic IF. EWGSOP finds more patients to be at risk of sarcopenia than SARC‐F but was not sufficiently sensitive to measure changes induced by the physical intervention. The significant change in SARC‐F may illustrate that patients, themselves, find an improvement in self‐perceived health.