Factors influencing physical activity behaviour of hospitalised patients

Inactive behaviour is common during hospital stay and is associated with negative health outcomes. This thesis aimed to contribute to improving patients’ physical activity behaviour during hospitalisation. This thesis investigated barriers and enablers to physical activity behaviour during hospital stay. Moreover, this thesis developed a screening tool to identify older adults at high risk of spending little time active during hospitalisation. If patients at high risk can be identified early after admission, they can be offered interventions aimed at improving their physical activity behaviour. One such intervention is Hospital Fit, a smartphone app connected to an accelerometer. This thesis investigated the potential of Hospital Fit to improve the physical activity behaviour and functional recovery of patients after orthopaedic surgery. Lastly, this thesis optimised and validated an accelerometer algorithm in order to improve the accuracy of physical activity monitoring in hospitalised patients.