The following is a summary of “Movement Patterns of Transient and Prolonged Positioning Events in Nursing Home Residents: Results from the TEAM-UP Trial,” published in the December 2022 issue of Critical care by Gadhoumi, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to characterize transitory and sustained body position patterns in a large sample of nursing home (NH) patients, and define movement pattern variations according to time of occurrence.

The research was a descriptive, exploratory analysis of up to 28 days’ worth of longitudinal accelerometer data collected from 1,100 inhabitants of New Hampshire for the therapeutic trial TEAM-UP (Turn Everyone and Move for Ulcer Prevention). Investigators looked at rates of transient events (TEs; less than 60 seconds) and prolonged events  (PEs; 60 seconds or more) by nursing shift.

Nearly three times every hour, residents’ postures altered for at least one minute (PEs). Nearly eight times an hour was spent with shorter-duration motions (TEs). The median duration and maximum durations of PEs were at their lowest during shift 2 (3 pm to 11 pm), when residents’ PE rates were at their greatest. Shift 3 (11 pm to 7 am) was the least active period of the day. Over 75% of all PEs were under 15 minutes long. As PEs grew longer, the rate of TEs inside them considerably dropped.

The people of NH exhibited intricate patterns of short- and long-duration motions when sitting and lying down. The results offered a novel set of measures to explore tissue offloading and its function in preventing pressure injuries while also reflecting how NH people naturally move in everyday situations.

Reference: journals.lww.com/aswcjournal/Fulltext/2022/12000/Movement_Patterns_of_Transient_and_Prolonged.5.aspx