Development and Evaluation of the Healthy Beat Accupunch (HBA) Exercise Program for the Community Older Adults (HBA)

Development and Evaluation of an Evidence-based Intervention Guideline of the Healthy Beat Accupunch (HBA) Exercise Program for the Community Older Adults

The goals of this research project were: 1) to develop a senior-tailored Healthy Beat Accupunch (HBA) exercise program for community-dwelling older adults, 2) to test the effects of a six-month, instructor-led HBA exercise program, and 3) to evaluate the feasibility, compliance, and long-term effects of a six-month, DVD-guide HBA exercise program.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Functional Fitness
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Healthy Beat Accupunch exercise program; Other: control

Detailed Description

A three-year, longitudinal, triangulation research method was applied. First Year (Phase I): A preliminary HBA exercise program, including hard copy descriptions and DVD demonstrations of each exercise, was mailed to the 16 experts in the Delphi advisory panel for their critique and evaluation. First Year (Phase II): A quasi-experimental, one-group, pretest-posttest design was used to pilot-test the feasibility of the HBA exercise program on a group of 31 community-dwelling older adults in a community care station. Second Year: A cluster randomized controlled trial was used to test the effects of a six-month, instructor-led HBA exercise program on the functional fitness (cardiovascular-respiratory function, body flexibility, muscle strength, and muscle endurance) of the community-dwelling older adults. Through the use of convenience sampling strategy, eight community care stations with 232 older adults in Kaohsiung were recruited and randomly assigned based on their community care stations to a HBA experimental group or a wait-list control group. Participants in the experimental group received the HBA exercise program led by trained and certified instructors, three times per week, 40 minutes per practice for six months; participants in the wait-list control group continued with their regular daily activities. One pre-test and two post-tests, three months apart, were conducted. Third Year: Using the same method as in the second year, participants from the second year continued practicing the HBA exercise program, but guided by a DVD, for another six months. The feasibility, compliance, and effectiveness of the DVD-led HBA exercise program on the community-dwelling older adults were tested, and another two post-tests, three months apart, were conducted on the same outcome measurements as in the second year.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 232
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 80708
    • Kaohsiung Medical University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 65 years to 100 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and over
• Mandarin or Taiwanese speakers
• able to stand and walk without assistive devices
• cognitive alert and able to verbally state their name, address, and answer questions.

Exclusion Criteria:

• participants with severe and acute cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, or pulmonary illnesses.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Healthy Beat Accupunch; The HBA exercise program includes: 1) warm-up: 5 slow and gentle exercises to regulate qi, loosen up the body, and elevate the energy for a safe transition to the next phase, 2) accupunch: 14 low-to-medium speed exercises to punch the 14 meridians to enhance the cardiovascular-respiratory workout, and 3) relaxation: 5 low-speed, muscle relaxing exercises with deep breaths to sooth the body and mind. It is conducted 3 times per week and 40 minutes per practice.	Other: Healthy Beat Accupunch exercise program; HBA has three phases and takes 40 minutes to complete.
Active Comparator: control; The control group maintains daily activities.	Other: control; participants maintain their daily activities.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Digital Sphygmomanometer	Blood Pressure	12 months
TruZoneTM Peak Flow Meter	Lung Capacity	12 months
Two-minute Step Test	Aerobic Endurance	12 months
Back Scratch Test	Upper Body Flexibility	12 months
Chair Sit-and-Reach Test	Lower Body Flexibility	12 months
Digital Handgrip Dynamometer	Hand-Grip Strength	12 months
Arm Curl Test	Upper Limbs Muscle Endurance	12 months
Chair Sit-to-Stand Test	Lower Limbs Muscle Endurance	12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Barthel Index	ADL	12 months
chronic pain	pain scale	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Kaohsiung Medical University
• Collaborators: National Science Council, Taiwan
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kuei-Min Chen, Ph.D., Kaohsiung Medical University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 12, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 5, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): May 5, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 29, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 1, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): October 5, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 12, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 10, 2017
• Last Verified: May 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: KMUH-IRB-20140089