Do patients experience an improvement in their quality of life after and some time following an adapted physical activity program?
Emile ESCOURROU, Marie HERNANDEZ, Solène MOULY, Pascal DURAND and Stéphane OUSTRIC
Adapted Physical Activity (APA) improves quality of life (QoL) and functional capacities (FC) in patients with chronic conditions. Few data exist on the continuation of the effect in the medium term after the end of an APA program. Does the improvement in QoL and FC continue after the program has ended?The aim of this study was to measure the impact of an APA program on the QoL and FC of patients before, at the end, and at a distance after the end of the program.Quasi-experimental single-center before/after study. Adult patients included by their general practitioner had: obesity and/or cancer and/or sarcopenia. The intervention consisted of an APA program of 3 supervised sessions per week for 4 months led by an APA teacher within a primary care health center (MSP). Assessments of QoL using the WHOQOL-BREF and FC using specific tests were conducted at T0, T1 (4 months), T2 (8 months), T3 (12 months), and analysis was performed with the Friedman test. The study received CPP approval.The sample included 122 patients. The main result is the significant improvement in overall QoL and its sub-dimensions, as well as FC, maintained up to 8 months after the program (p=0.002). Specific benefits were observed according to the subgroups analyzed. An increase in QoL and its relational component was observed in the first 4 months following the program. Age > 65 years seemed to lead to a faster decrease in benefits on QoL from the APA program.The study is ongoing to improve its power, particularly for subgroup analysis, which is a limitation of the current work. The strength was the absence of out-of-pocket expenses for patients and the proximity of the site, which allowed the inclusion of individuals with socioeconomic and/or mobility difficulties. Supporting patients in continuing physical activity in daily life after the program should be improved to maintain the positive impact on their QoL.APA has a lasting positive effect on QoL and functional capacities. These benefits continue after the end of the program, highlighting the need to encourage ongoing physical activity after the intervention.
