BACKGROUND: Qualitative research studies regarding physical activity in patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA) unfortunately are sparse in the current literature. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: To provide a foundation for future investigations, we performed a systematic review to identify the different instruments used to quantify physical activity in patients undergoing TJA and to determine how active these patients really are. METHODS: We systematically reviewed the literature on the bibliographic databases Medline, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE published until September 2008, focusing on studies assessing total physical activity in patients after or undergoing TJA. Results of those studies quantifying physical activity using accelerometers and pedometers were combined using meta-analytic methods. RESULTS: In the 26 studies included (n = 2460 patients), motion sensors and recall questionnaires were most commonly used. The research aims and goals varied widely among the studies and the results mainly were descriptive. Studies quantifying physical activity using pedometers and accelerometers suggested a weighted mean of 6721 steps/day (95% confidence interval [CI], 5744-7698). Steps per day determined by accelerometers were 2.2 times the steps measured by pedometers. Metaregression showed that walking activity decreased by 90 steps/day (95% CI, -156 to -23) every year of patient age. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest patients undergoing TJA are less active than recommended to achieve health-enhancing activity levels (greater than 10,000 steps/day), but they appear more active than normally assumed in typical wear simulations. Future investigations have to evolve more standardization in the assessment and reporting of physical activity in TJA patients.
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