Social Work Today E-Zine

Older adults at risk for physical disabilities are able to adhere to a regular program of moderate exercise for one year, a recent study of 213 men and women suggests. Led by corresponding author Roger Fielding, PhD, of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, the authors observed that improvement in physical function was related to the participants’ ability to adhere to the physical activity regimen.

“At the beginning, middle, and end of the study the participants were tested on their walking speed, strength, flexibility, and balance to gauge their physical function,” says Fielding, director of the Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA. “We saw a greater improvement in physical function in the participants who reported exercising 150 minutes or more per week.”

The study, published in a recent issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, analyzed data from the physical intervention arm of the Lifestyle Intervention and Independence for Elders Pilot. The participants ranged in age from 70 to 89 years old, were sedentary when they enrolled, had health problems such as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, and some physical limitations such as difficulty walking or climbing stairs. They followed a moderate exercise program that consisted of walking, strength, flexibility, and balance training.

For the first six months of the study, the participants exercised under supervision at one of four university centers and at home. Center visits were optional during the second six months. The participants filled out surveys to track their adherence to the physical activity regimen during the center visits and at home. The authors observed that physical activity adherence was consistent with earlier studies that followed older adults for shorter durations.

“What we found,” says Fielding, “is that this group can commit to a regular program of physical activity in a long-term, randomized trial and the better their adherence to a program of physical activity the greater their improvements in physical functioning.”

— Source: Tufts University