scholarly journals Effects of Physical Exercises and Verbal Stimulation on the Functional Efficiency and Use of Free Time in an Older Population under Institutional Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wiśniowska-Szurlej ◽  
Agnieszka Ćwirlej-Sozańska ◽  
Natalia Wołoszyn ◽  
Bernard Sozański ◽  
Anna Wilmowska-Pietruszyńska

Older people in institutional care are, for the most part, physically inactive and do not interact with each other or medical staff. Therefore, reducing sedentary behaviour is a new, important, and modifiable lifestyle variable that can improve the health of elderly people. The aim of the project was to assess the degree of improvement in functional performance and the possibility of changing habitual, free time behaviour among elderly people under institutional care by applying physical training with verbal stimulation. The study covered older people, aged 65–85 years, who are living a sedentary lifestyle in care homes in Southeastern Poland. Those who met the eligibility criteria were enrolled in the study and were assigned, at random, to one of four parallel groups: basic exercises (n = 51), basic exercises combined with verbal stimulation (n = 51), functional exercise training (n = 51), and functional exercise training with verbal stimulation (n = 51). No statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics were observed across the groups. Data were collected at baseline and at 12 and 24-weeks following the completion of the intervention. In the group with functional exercise training with verbal stimulation, in comparison to the group with basic exercises, the greatest positive short-term impact of intervention was demonstrated in terms of functional fitness (increased by 1.31 points; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93–1.70), gait speed (improved by 0.17 m/s, 95% CI = 0.13–0.22), hand grip strength (by over 4 kg; 95% CI = 2.51–4.95), and upper-limb flexibility (by 10 cm; 95% CI = 5.82–12.65). There was also a significant increase in the level of free-time physical activity and an improvement in the quality of life, especially as expressed in the domain of overall physical functioning. Our study showed that a functional exercise program, combined with verbal stimulation, is effective at improving physical fitness and raising the level of free-time physical activity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Carballeira ◽  
Karla C. Censi ◽  
Ana Maseda ◽  
Rocío López-López ◽  
Laura Lorenzo-López ◽  
...  

AbstractPhysical exercise, when practiced regularly and in adequate doses, is a proven nonpharmacological measure that helps to prevent and reverse noncommunicable diseases, as well as reduce mortality rates from any cause. In general, older adults perform insufficient physical activity and do not meet the doses recommended by the World Health Organization for the improvement of health through physical activity. However, there is little evidence on adequate doses of exercise in older people, especially in those with multimorbidity. Our main aim was to evaluate the effect of a 6-week intervention on health-related outcomes (body composition, hemodynamic and functionality changes) in 24 individuals aged 65 and older with multimorbidity in a randomized controlled trial. The intervention consisted of a very low volume (60 min per week) of low-to-moderate intensity exercise training (perception of effort from 3 to 6 on an 11-point scale). After the intervention, blood pressure was significantly (p = 0.038) reduced in the exercise group (EG), with a higher reduction in men. Furthermore, the EG decreased their waist circumference (p = 0.005), a proxy of abdominal adiposity, and demonstrated an increased likelihood (73%) that a randomly selected change in muscle mass score from the EG would be greater than a randomly selected change score from the control group. The exercise intervention was particularly effective in enhancing the functionality of older adults with multimorbidity, especially in walking speed and balance skills. Perceptually regulated intensity during exercise training seemed to be a very interesting strategy to train individuals with low physical fitness and comorbidities. This study is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 04842396).


2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Fujita ◽  
Ryoichi Nagatomi ◽  
Atsushi Hozawa ◽  
Takayoshi Ohkubo ◽  
Koya Sato ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Sergi Blancafort Alias ◽  
César Cuevas-Lara ◽  
Nicolás Martínez-Velilla ◽  
Fabricio Zambom-Ferraresi ◽  
Maria Eugenia Soto ◽  
...  

The World Health Organization has developed the Integrated Care of Older People (ICOPE) strategy, a program based on the measurement of intrinsic capacity (IC) as “the composite of all physical and mental attributes on which an individual can draw”. Multicomponent interventions appear to be the most effective approach to enhance IC and to prevent frailty and disability since adapted physical activity is the preventive intervention that has shown the most evidence in the treatment of frailty and risk of falls. Our paper describes the development of a multi-domain group-based intervention addressed to older people living in the community, aimed at improving and/or maintaining intrinsic capacity by means of promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition, and psychological wellbeing in older people. The process of intervention development is described following the Guidance for reporting intervention development studies in health research (GUIDED). The result of this study is the AMICOPE intervention (Aptitude Multi-domain group-based intervention to improve and/or maintain IC in Older PEople) built upon the ICOPE framework and described following the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) guidelines. The intervention consists of 12 face-to-face sessions held weekly for 2.5 h over three months and facilitated by a pair of health and social care professionals. This study represents the first stage of the UK Medical Research Council framework for developing and evaluating a complex intervention. The next step should be carrying out a feasibility study for the AMICOPE intervention and, at a later stage, assessing the effectiveness in a randomized controlled trial.


2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (12) ◽  
pp. 1616-1627
Author(s):  
Justina Y W Liu ◽  
Patrick P K Kor ◽  
Paul L Lee ◽  
Wai T Chien ◽  
Parco M Siu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Although the evidence suggests that general fatigue is a strong indicator of rapid aging, frailty, and disability, general fatigue is undertreated in gerontological care. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate whether an individualized exercise program with and without behavioral change enhancement (BCE) strategies for older people who are frail and have general fatigue will reduce their fatigue and symptoms of frailty. Design A 3-arm, single-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03394495) will be conducted. Setting The study will be conducted in a community setting. Participants Two hundred eighty-five community-dwelling older people with general fatigue will be recruited from 12 district community health centers. Intervention People from each center will be randomized to one of three groups. The combined group will receive a 16-week combined intervention consisting of individualized exercise training and the BCE program, plus two booster sessions at 2 and 6 months after the program. The exercise group will receive exercise training and health talks only. The control group will receive health talks only. Measurements Outcome measures will be collected at baseline, at the midpoint (week 8) of the program, and then at 1 week, 6 months, and 12 months after the end of the program. The primary outcome---level of fatigue---will be measured using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory. Secondary outcomes will include the participants’ frailty status, strength, mobility, exercise self-efficacy, and habitual physical activity. Limitations A self-reported level of fatigue will be used. Conclusions The effect of exercise and BCE strategies on general fatigue among older people who are frail is not known. This study will be a pioneering interventional study on how general fatigue among older people who are frail can be managed and how fatigue-related frailty can be prevented or minimized.


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