Comparing rehabilitation with and without neuromuscular electrical stimulation in hospitalized older adults: Cognitive, functional, and acceptability outcomes from a pragmatic pilot study.
Evrim Gökçe, Gilles Loggia, Alyzée Henry et al.
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In 30 seconds
This pragmatic pilot comparative study examined whether adding neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to usual rehabilitation affected cognition, mobility, and acceptability among 29 hospitalized older adults (mean age 81.7 years, SD 9.0). Over three weeks, participants received usual rehabilitation alone or NMES alongside usual care. The NMES group had a significant reduction in task-switching errors, indicating improved cognitive flexibility (p = 0.03). No additional benefit was found for other cognitive or mobility measures, although mobility improved over time in all participants. NMES was considered acceptable in this rehabilitation setting.
Key findings
- Adding NMES to usual rehabilitation significantly reduced task-switching errors, a measure of cognitive flexibility (p = 0.03).
- No additional benefits were observed in other cognitive or mobility measures.
- Mobility improved over time in all participants, and NMES was considered acceptable by older adults.
Why it matters
Cognitive and mobility outcomes are relevant to rehabilitation in hospitalized older adults. This pilot suggests NMES can be incorporated acceptably and may have a cognitive flexibility signal, while offering no demonstrated additional mobility benefit. The findings help define outcomes for further evaluation but do not establish broad effectiveness.
What to keep in mind
This was a pilot study with 29 participants and a three-week intervention; the abstract reports no additional benefits for most measured outcomes.