Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan.
Aging Clin Exp Res. 2013 Aug;25(4):453-61. doi: 10.1007/s40520-013-0080-3. Epub 2013 Jul 2.
To study the effects of a comprehensive intervention program comprising exercise, diet, and hot bathing in community-dwelling older adults by using a randomized controlled trial.
The program included 61 community-dwelling healthy older adults (mean [SD] age, 69.9 [5.3] years) who were using a hot bath facility. The participants were randomly assigned to four groups as follows: an exercise, diet, and hot bath intervention group (A); an exercise and diet intervention group (B); a hot bath intervention group (C); and a control group (D). Individuals in groups A and B participated in a comprehensive intervention program (including exercise and diet classes) twice a week for 3 months, and those in groups A and C took hot baths.
After 3 months, the participants in groups A and B showed a significantly greater improvement in their timed up and go test and stepping test scores than the participants in groups C and D. However, the participants in groups A and C did not show any dependent or independent effects of hot bathing. Three months after the intervention, a follow-up assessment indicated that the group A participants maintained the effect of the intervention and showed improved lower extremity function and health-related quality of life.
The present study suggests that a comprehensive intervention program involving hot bathing may improve lower extremity function and that its effects can be maintained even in healthy older adults. However, the dependent or independent effects of hot bathing may not be expected for healthy older adults.
通过随机对照试验，研究包含运动、饮食和热水浴的综合干预方案对社区居住的老年人的影响。
该方案纳入了 61 名使用热水浴设施的社区居住健康老年人（平均[标准差]年龄 69.9[5.3]岁）。参与者被随机分为 4 组：运动、饮食和热水浴干预组（A 组）；运动和饮食干预组（B 组）；热水浴干预组（C 组）；对照组（D 组）。A 组和 B 组的个体每周参加 2 次综合干预方案（包括运动和饮食课程），持续 3 个月，A 组和 C 组的个体洗热水澡。
3 个月后，A 组和 B 组的参与者在计时起立行走测试和踏步测试评分方面的改善明显优于 C 组和 D 组的参与者。然而，A 组和 C 组的参与者没有表现出热水浴的任何依赖或独立效应。干预 3 个月后，随访评估表明 A 组参与者保持了干预的效果，并表现出下肢功能和健康相关生活质量的改善。
本研究表明，包含热水浴的综合干预方案可能改善下肢功能，并且其效果在健康老年人中也可以维持。然而，对于健康老年人，可能不会期待热水浴的依赖或独立效应。
