Perceptions and factors influencing exercise interventions in elderly patients with debilitating spinal surgery and healthcare professionals: A qualitative study

Table 1 Outline of an interview with an elderly patient undergoing debilitating elective spinal surgery

	Outline of an interview with an elderly patient undergoing debilitating elective spinal surgery
1	What do you understand by frailty?
2	What is known about exercise interventions in frailty management?
3	What do you think are some of the frailty symptoms you are exhibiting? (What changes have occurred in your physical functioning, psychological condition, and daily life as you have aged?)
4	How are you coping with the above changes?
5	What types of exercise do you think are included in exercise interventions and which do you prefer?
6	What do you think would be difficult and what would you like to be helped with if you were to do the exercise workout?
7	What do you hope to achieve with your exercise intervention?
8	What other suggestions do you have for frailty exercise interventions?

Table 2 Outline of interviews with healthcare professionals

	Outline of interviews with healthcare professionals
1	What are your perceptions of exercise interventions in the management of frailty?
2	What are the effects of exercise interventions on elderly patients with frailty spinal surgery?
3	How to guide perioperative exercise rehabilitation for frailty patients undergoing spinal surgery on a daily basis?
4	What are the signs of frailty in elderly patients undergoing spinal surgery in the department?
5	How are patients instructed in exercise interventions within the department?
6	What are the current problems of clinical staff in instructing patients in the process of perioperative exercise?
7	What other observations and recommendations were made about perioperative exercise in elderly spine patients?

Table 3 Characteristics of patients in this study (n = 10)

Participant number	Sex	Age (yr)	Disease diagnosis	Average monthly income (RMB)	Education level	Frail score
1	Female	67	Lumbar compression fracture	3000-5000	Junior high school	3
2	Male	71	Lumbar spinal stenosis	5000-8000	Primary school and lower	1
3	Male	67	Mixed cervical spine disease	5000-8000	College and above	1
4	Female	75	Lumbar spinal stenosis	3000-5000	Junior	1
5	Male	68	Vertebral hernia	5000-8000	Senior high school	2
6	Male	73	Lumbar spinal stenosis	3000	Junior high school	3
7	Male	69	Vertebral hernia	3000	Primary school and lower	2
8	Female	62	Lumbar spinal stenosis	3000-5000	Senior high school	1
9	Female	71	Lumbar spinal stenosis	3000-5000	Senior high school	4
10	Male	72	Lumbar spinal stenosis	3000-5000	Senior high school	2

Table 4 Characteristics of healthcare professionals in this study (n = 7)

Participant number	Sex	Age (yr)	Year of experience	Education level	Marriage status
B1	Female	28	8	Associate's degree	Married
B2	Female	31	10	Bachelor's degree	Married
B3	Female	28	8	Bachelor's degree	Married
B4	Male	32	8	Bachelor's degree	Married
B5	Male	34	11	Bachelor's degree	Married
B6	Female	39	11	Bachelor's degree	Married
B7	Male	42	15	Doctorate	Married