A structured exercise program may boost the physical well-being of sedentary seniors who are at risk of losing independent functioning, a new study to be published in the November 2006 Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences has found.
The study also showed that the program holds promise for lowering older people's chances of major walking disability, and that older adults can safely begin a program of moderate exercise.
The findings are reported in a special section of the journal addressing the effects of exercise in older people.
The magnitude of the effects was encouraging to the researchers, who said that the pilot study confirms the feasibility and safety of testing the approach in a larger, more definitive randomized clinical trial involving older adults.
Results of the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders - or LIFE - pilot study will be presented Nov. 17 at the Gerontological Society of America's annual scientific meeting. The research, supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, was conducted at four field centers nationwide. The University of Florida was the administrative coordinating center.
"As U.S. life expectancy rises, functional decline and disability among older people are growing public health and clinical concerns," says NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. "This pilot study helps us to understand better the relationship between exercise training and mobility, which is a key to maintaining older adults' independence and quality of life, and provides a basis for designing more definitive large-scale clinical trials."
"Lower-extremity functioning is a very powerful marker for overall function and the risk of disability. This research suggests that a multi-faceted program of aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility exercises can make a difference for older adults by significantly improving their walking ability," adds Jack M. Guralnik, M.D., Ph.D., acting chief of the NIA's Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography and Biometry.
Participants were invited to join the study if they exercised for fewer than 20 minutes a week; were between 70 and 89 years of age; and had a low physical performance battery score, which is based on three assessments: walking speed, balance and the ability to rise from a chair. At the start of the study, participants had to walk 400 meters - about a quarter of a mile - within 15 minutes without sitting or using an assistive device such as a cane. The participants were followed for an average of 1.2 years.