Citation

Liang CC, Change QX, Hung YC, Chizan-Chung C, Lin CH, Wei YC, Chen JC. J. Aging Phys. Act. 2017; 25(4): 596-603.

Affiliation

Department of Physical Therapy, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/japa.2015-0326

PMID

28253047

Abstract

The Taiwanese government has developed community care stations (CCSs) for community-based elderly care. We investigated the effects of a structured exercise intervention, applied at CCS for 6 months, on physical performance and balance in community-dwelling older adults, including a 2-year reassessment. Fifty-eight participants (aged 76.9± 6.3 years) participated in the study. The Elderly Mobility Scale, Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Timed Up and Go (TUG), gait speed, functional reach, one-leg-stance (OLS) and flexibility were evaluated at baseline, 6 months and 2 years. Compared with baseline, the participants improved significantly in the SPPB (0.93 points), TUG (1.94 s), gait speed (0.13 m/s) and right and left OLS (2.56 and 3.12 s) at 6 months. Furthermore, these significant effects except for OLS were maintained at the 2-year reassessment according to repeated measures ANOVA (p<.01). Our preliminary data suggests that adding a structured exercise program can benefit older adults participating in Taiwanese CCSs.

Language: en

Keywords

balance; community care station; community-dwelling older adults; long-term outcomes; physical performance