A physical activity intervention to treat the frailty syndrome in older persons-results from the LIFE-P study.
BACKGROUND
The frailty syndrome is as a well-established condition of risk for disability. Aim of the study is to explore whether a physical activity (PA) intervention can reduce prevalence and severity of frailty in a community-dwelling elders at risk of disability.


METHODS
Exploratory analyses from the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders pilot, a randomized controlled trial enrolling 424 community-dwelling persons (mean age=76.8 years) with sedentary lifestyle and at risk of mobility disability. Participants were randomized to a 12-month PA intervention versus a successful aging education group. The frailty phenotype (ie, ≥3 of the following defining criteria: involuntary weight loss, exhaustion, sedentary behavior, slow gait speed, poor handgrip strength) was measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Repeated measures generalized linear models were conducted.


RESULTS
A significant (p = .01) difference in frailty prevalence was observed at 12 months in the PA intervention group (10.0%; 95% confidence interval = 6.5%, 15.1%), relative to the successful aging group (19.1%; 95% confidence interval = 13.9%,15.6%). Over follow-up, in comparison to successful aging participants, the mean number of frailty criteria in the PA group was notably reduced for younger subjects, blacks, participants with frailty, and those with multimorbidity. Among the frailty criteria, the sedentary behavior was the one most affected by the intervention.


CONCLUSIONS
Regular PA may reduce frailty, especially in individuals at higher risk of disability. Future studies should be aimed at testing the possible benefits produced by multidomain interventions on frailty.
Gérontopôle, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France. Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (UMR1027), Université de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, France. macesari@gmail.com.
Matteo
M
Cesari
Gérontopôle, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France. Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (UMR1027), Université de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, France.
Bruno
B
Vellas
Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Fang-Chi
FC
Hsu
Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Anne B
AB
Newman
Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Hani
H
Doss
Department of Health Research and Policy and Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
Abby C
AC
King
Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Todd M
TM
Manini
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge.
Timothy
T
Church
Department of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
Thomas M
TM
Gill
Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Michael E
ME
Miller
Department of Health Research and Policy and Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
Marco
M
Pahor
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044383:Black People; D015897:Comorbidity; D015444:Exercise; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005684:Gait; D018737:Hand Strength; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D010865:Pilot Projects; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014481:United States; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American
Clinical trials.; Frailty; Physical activity; Physical function; Successful aging