Professors of Physical Therapy Dr. Kathleen Mangione and Dr. Rebecca L. Craik, Adjunct Professor of Biology Dr. Kerstin Palombaro, and Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Dr. Susan S. Tomlinson published the paper “Home-Based Leg-Strengthening Exercise Improves Function Year After Hip Fracture: A Randomized Controlled Study” in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (58:1911-1917, 2010). The paper compares the effectiveness of a short-term leg-strengthening exercise program with that of the attentional control on improving strength, walking abilities, and function one year after hip fracture.

The subjects in the study were community dwelling older adults six moths after hip fracture at baseline. Exercise and control participants received interventions from physical therapist twice a week for 10 weeks. The exercise group received high-intensity leg strengthening exercises. The control group received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and mental imagery. Their findings indicate that a 10-week home-based progressive resistance exercise program was sufficient to achieve moderate to large effects on physical performance and quality of life and may offer an alternative intervention mode for home by six months after the fracture. The effects were maintained at three months after completion of the training program.