A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds that “each additional 1,000 steps” a patient takes postoperatively is linked to 18% lower odds of complications, 16% lower odds of readmission, and 6% shorter hospital stays.
Surgeon researchers analyzed data from the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program and determined that postoperative step count is a “powerful, objective predictor of recovery, outperforming other metrics such as heart rate variability and self-reported wellness.”
They added that the association “stayed true across different types of procedures and patient health statuses. “
Timothy M. Pawlik, MD, PhD, MPH, MTS, MBA, FACS, senior author of the study and professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, told the American College of Surgeons (ACS) website, “We tell patients that they need to get up and walk after an operation, but we don’t have a good sense of how much they’re actually moving. Wearables give us an objective, continuous readout. Instead of asking how you feel, we can see that you’re up and moving, which is a very actionable signal of how your recovery is progressing.”
The study analyzed the preoperative and postoperative data along with the clinical outcomes of 1,965 adult patients who underwent inpatient surgery via the All of Us database, which links electronic health records with data from wearable devices.
“It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation,” Dr. Pawlik told ACS. “People who feel better are naturally more likely to be up and around. However, the signal is so strong that it suggests step count is not just a marker of wellness, but a key component of it. Seeing a patient’s step count drop can be an early indicator to intervene, perhaps by involving physical therapy or checking in more frequently.”
ACS adds, “The findings align with a 2023 study presented at the ACS Clinical Congress, which found that patients who took more than 7,500 steps per day before surgery had a 51% lower risk of postoperative complications.”
Dr. Pawlik said that integrating steps data into care pathways could prove powerful for both patients and clinicians. “If a patient’s goal is 8,000 steps before surgery and 6,000 on postoperative day three, they can see if they’re hitting those targets,” he told ACS. “It gives them a concrete goal and gives us objective data to help decide if they’re ready for discharge or if they need more support at home.”
Access the study here.
