title: Feasibility and Impact of High-Intensity Walking Training in Frail Older Adults.
abstract: To investigate the impact of high-intensity walking training (HIWT) on prefrail and frail older adults, five assisted living residents underwent a supervised 12-session intervention. The intervention consisted of 30 min of HIWT at 70-80% of heart rate reserve or ratings of 15 to 17 (hard to very hard) on the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion scale. Training included walking at fast speeds, multi-directions, stairs, and outdoor surfaces with and without an assistive device. Training significantly reduced frailty using the SHARE-FI (p = .008), increased fast gait speed (p = .01), improved 6-min walk test distance (p = .03), and enhanced Berg Balance Scale scores (p = .03). There were no adverse events and all participants reached target training intensity in all 12 sessions. Participants viewed the walking intervention as highly satisfactory (9.6/10 on a Likert scale) and 100% recommended that the assisted living facility should offer HIWT as part of routine programming.
authors.forename: Margaret K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Danilovich
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Conroy
authors.forename: T George
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Hornby
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D040561:Assisted Living Facilities; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D000072797:Walking Speed
keywords: assisted living residents; frailty; high-intensity training