The effect of geriatric rehabilitation on physical performance and pain in men and women

In the developed countries, people are living longer and the number of aged persons is growing. Knowledge on the effectiveness of rehabilitative procedures is needed and information in physical performance between men and women is scarce. An intervention study was carried out in two war veterans’ rehabilitation centers in Finland to examine the effects of geriatric inpatient rehabilitation on physical performance and pain in elderly men and women. The study included 441 community-dwelling persons with a mean age of 83 years. A clinical assessment and a structured interview were carried out. Cognitive capacity was evaluated with the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). Physical performance was measured through several validated tests. Pain was measured with the visual analogy scale (VAS). The rehabilitation was carried out with the standard rehabilitation protocol. Both men and women showed a statistically significant improvement in physical performance tests. The experience of pain and disease symptoms diminished significantly in both sexes (p < 0.001). The intervention showed that women improved more than men. It showed significant interactions of group by time in knee extension strength (p = 0.033), the experience of pain reduction (p = 0.002) and disease symptoms (p = 0.040). Inpatient geriatric rehabilitation appeared to have a positive effect on physical performance and the experience of pain in elderly people. The differences between the sexes in the experience of pain, disease symptoms and in the knee extension strength could provide a new perspective in the planning of more individual rehabilitation interventions.