Introduction: Chronic diseases can be prevented and improved by regular physical activity and reduced sedentary time. An adequate leg strength and leg function in treatment and prevention of these disease is something to strive for. To the Lifestyle Reception at Karlskoga Hospital are patients with mild to moderate mental illness referred where a new method Self-measurement tests of leg strength is used, containing 30 seconds chair-stand test, squat, heel rise and maximal step-up test, aiming to simple training and indicating an objective measure of leg strength. Objective: To describe the group of patients referred to the Lifestyle Reception and investigate change of leg strength/leg function using Self-measurement tests, self-rated health and self-rated physical function following 12 weeks of intervention. Methods: A clinical intervention study of 29 patients referred to the Lifestyle Reception at Karlskoga Hospital between Nov 2017 and March 2018. They participated in an intervention consisting of group training twice a week for 12 weeks. A sign-in and a sign-out interview was carried out where data (tests and a questionnaire) of the study was collected. Result: 29 patients (24 women / 5 men) participated. The mean age was 39 years and the mean BMI was 31 (corresponding to obesity). All patients were on sick leave to some extent. The theoretical individual maximal step-up height (% -tMSH) improved from 65% to 75% (p <0.001). The patients could on average do 5.5 more 30s-chair-stand-test (p <0.001) and the proportion who managed to do squats without support increased from 57% to 90%. Significant improvements were seen for the self-rated health (p <0.001) and also for the HAD scale (anxiety p = 0.012; depression p = 0.04). However, the improvement of the self-rated physical function was not significant. Conclusion: Significant improvements in all four self-tests of leg strength / leg function could be measured after the intervention as well as a significant improvement of self-rated health. Self-measurement test of leg strength is considered to be a simple and useful test method in clinical practice.

Rationnel : La vitesse d'onde de pouls (VOP) est une méthode non invasive d'estimation de la rigidité artérielle. Les recommandations internationales établissent que la VOP est un marqueur puissant du risque cardiovasculaire (CV). La corrélation entre la pression artérielle périphérique et la VOP et leurs influences respectives sur la mortalité ont été peu étudiés chez les sujets âgés. Notre objectif était d'analyser cette corrélation chez les sujets institutionnalisés de plus de 80 ans. Méthodes : PARTAGE (valeur prédictive de la pression artérielle et de la rigidité artérielle chez institutionnalisé la population très âgée) est une étude de cohorte suivant pendant 2 ans 1130 sujets de plus de 80 ans institutionnalisés dans 72 centres en France et en Italie. La corrélation entre pression artérielle systolique et diastolique (PAS et la PAD) et la VOP (mesuré avec un tonomètre PulsePen ®) a été étudié chez 1071 sujets ayant des données de VOP. Résultats : La corrélation entre la PA et la VOP dans notre étude est significative mais faible. Les coefficients de corrélation sont de 0,24 pour la corrélation PAS clinique-VOP, 0,26 pour la corrélation PP-VOP, et 0,30 pour la corrélation PA automesure-VOP. La corrélation est systématiquement plus élevée chez les femmes mais sans atteindre la significativité. Le niveau de corrélation est inversement proportionnel à l'âge : les corrélations les plus fortes sont retrouvées dans la population la plus jeune. Le traitement antihypertenseur n'a pas d'impact sur la corrélation. Conclusion : La faiblesse de la corrélation montre que la PA et la VOP expriment différents phénomènes physiopathologiques de la rigidité artérielle. L'analyse longitudinale de l'étude PARTAGE, mise en perspective avec ceux trouvés dans nos travaux, pourraient permettre de proposer la VOP comme une méthode complémentaire, voire alternative, à la mesure de la PA dans l'évaluation du risque CV dans la population des sujets très âgés / Background: Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) provides a comprehensive non-invasive assessment of arterial stiffness. PWV is now established as a strong marker of cardiovascular disease. The correlation between peripheral blood pressure and PWV and their respective influences on mortality have been poorly studied in the elderly. Our objective was to analyze this correlation in nursing home residents over 80 years of age. Results could ultimately be helpful in implementing strategies for diagnosis and long-term follow-up of the very elderly population. Methods: The PARTAGE (Predictive value of blood pressure and ARTerial stiffness in institutionalized very AGEd population) study is a 2-year cohort study of 1130 subjects living in 72 nursing homes in France and Italy. The correlation between baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) and baseline PWV (measured with a PulsePen® tonometer) was studied in 1071 subjects with available PWV measurements. Results: Correlations between peripheral blood pressure and PWV were significant but weak: r=0.24 for self-measured SBP, r=0.30 for casual SBP, r=0.11 for self measured DBP, r=0.14 for casual DBP and r=0.26 for casual pulse pressure (PP). A trend for a weaker correlation was observed in the higher age group for self measured SBP and in the lower ADL group for self measured SBP and DBP. The correlations were systematically higher in women compared to men (but did not reach statistical significance) and lower with advanced age group. The correlation was not impacted by antihypertensive. Conclusion: These findings suggest that SBP, DBP and PWV provide different information in the very elderly. The prospective, longitudinal, long term PARTAGE study results will allow further insight; provide additional in-depth information regarding the respective prognostic value of these two measurement methods. NCT00901355