Community-based Physical Fitness Exercise on the Older Adults' Functional Fitness and Adherence to Physical Activity

The Influence of a New Intervention Model of Community-based Physical Fitness Exercise on the Older Adults' Adherence to Physical Activity and the Improvement of Functional Fitness

Maintaining adequate physical activity (PA) and regularly exercising are very important to promote the good physical and mental health of the elderly. According to the transtheoretical model (TTM) framework, previous research studies have formulated many strategies to promote exercise behaviors, such as incentive strategies, combines municipal resources and links up with the referral of primary care institutions, or including patients in the decision-making process about exercise choices to enable patients to have greater autonomy. In addition, in terms of the strategic aspects of achieving goals, competitive incentives are also an effective strategy. Therefore, this study aims to find out the effects of the community-based physical fitness exercise course, which is given according to TTM, on improving functional fitness and exercise persistence of the older adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Older Adult
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Structural exercise course; Behavioral: Autonomous group class

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• 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 82 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• age between 65 to 90 years old
• can stand up from a chair without armrests
• can walk independently for 2 minutes without relying on any mechanical assistance
• no medical issues according to the PAR-Q+ form assessment
• can complete the Senior Fitness Test (SFT)

Exclusion Criteria:

• diagnosed with severe dementia (unable to understand and/or follow verbal commands)
• suffering from stroke, severe hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes
• hip or knee replacement surgery in the past 6 months
• hip fracture
• having undergoing rehabilitation plan
• unable to complete the pre-tests or post-test

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Community-based physical fitness exercise course; Included 12-week structural exercise course (0-12 weeks) and 12-week autonomous group class (12-24 weeks).	Behavioral: Structural exercise course; 12-week structured exercise class, team competition, social support, and incentive strategy; Behavioral: Autonomous group class; 12-week autonomous group class, team competition, social support, and incentive strategy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exercise stage of change questionnaire	Exercise Change Stage Short Question Form is a 5 item scale. It has only one question, used to categorizes individuals into one of the five stages of change: (1) Precontemplation (2) Contemplation (3) Preparation (4) Action (5) Maintenance.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE)	PASE is used to assess the physical activity level of elderly individuals, the factors affecting the activity level, the relationship between physical activity and health profile. The minimum and maximum score that can be obtained from the scale is 0 and 400.The higher score indicates better level of physical activity.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Exercise Self-efficacy Scale	The Exercise Self-efficacy Scale measures an individual's perceived ability to overcome various obstacles to perform physical activity, with higher scores indicating more confidence in performing the exercise.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale	The Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale contains 9 statements rated by participants using a 5-point Likert scale from 1 "Strongly Disagree" to 5 "Strongly Agree". It can help identify older adults with low outcome expectations for exercise.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Physical Activity Survey	The physical activity survey is measured according to the PASE items. It is calculated by the frequency value (hours per day in the one-week reporting period) for low-intensity, medium-intensity, high-intensity, and muscle strengthening exercise. The higher score indicates the more time spent on the physical activity at each level.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Attendance rate	The attendance rate of the subjects participating in structured exercise courses and autonomous group classes	12 and 24 weeks
Senior Fitness Test - Body Mass Index (BMI)	Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Senior Fitness Test - Waist-hip ratio	The waist-hip ratio is the dimensionless ratio of the circumference of the waist to that of the hips.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Senior Fitness Test - 30s Chair stand	Evaluates the lower body strength according to the number of times the individual stood up and sat down in 30 seconds. Characterized as continuous numeric variable	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Senior Fitness Test - Chair Sit-&-Reach	Evaluates the lower back and hamstring flexibility according to the distance measured between the tip of the finger tips and the toes. Characterized as continuous numerical variable.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Senior Fitness Test - 8-Foot Up-&-Go	Assesses motor agility and dynamic balance. Evaluates the time in seconds and hundredths in an established path of 2.44 meters on the route to go and return to starting position. Characterized as continuous numerical variable.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Senior Fitness Test - 30s Arm curl	Evaluates the upper body strength and endurance according to the number of arm curls in 30 seconds. Characterized as continuous numeric variable.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Senior Fitness Test - Back scratch	Evaluates the flexibility of the upper limbs. It measures the distance in inches between the tips of the fingers in the back area. Characterized as continuous numeric variable	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Senior Fitness Test - 2-Minute Step	Evaluates aerobic endurance. Total double past stationary in 2 minutes. Characterized as continuous numeric variable.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up
Open-eyes one leg stand	Evaluates the balance ability. The standing time on one leg, keep eyes open. Characterized as continuous numeric variable.	basal, 12, 24 weeks follow up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 30, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 29, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): March 29, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 5, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 5, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): October 18, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 18, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 5, 2021
• Last Verified: October 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: KMUHIRB-E(II)-20190397

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No