Telenius Elisabeth Wiken, Engedal Knut, Bergland Astrid
Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy, Oslo, Norway.
Norwegian Centre of Aging and Health, Department of Psychiatry, Vestfold Health Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.
PLoS One. 2015 May 14;10(5):e0126102. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126102. eCollection 2015.
Dementia is among the leading causes of functional loss and disability in older adults. Research has demonstrated that nursing home patients without dementia can improve their function in activities of daily living, strength, balance and mental well being by physical exercise. The evidence on effect of physical exercise among nursing home patients with dementia is scarce and ambiguous. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a high intensity functional exercise program on the performance of balance in nursing home residents with dementia. The secondary objective was to examine the effect of this exercise on muscle strength, mobility, activities of daily living, quality of life and neuropsychiatric symptoms.
This single blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted among 170 persons with dementia living in nursing homes. Mean age was 86.7 years (SD = 7.4) and 74% were women. The participants were randomly allocated to an intervention (n = 87) or a control group (n = 83). The intervention consisted of intensive strengthening and balance exercises in small groups twice a week for 12 weeks. The control condition was leisure activities.
The intervention group improved the score on Bergs Balance Scale by 2.9 points, which was significantly more than the control group who improved by 1.2 points (p = 0.02). Having exercised 12 times or more was significantly associated with improved strength after intervention (p<0.05). The level of apathy was lower in the exercise group after the intervention, compared to the control group (p = 0.048).
The results from our study indicate that a high intensity functional exercise program improved balance and muscle strength as well as reduced apathy in nursing home patients with dementia.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02262104.
痴呆是老年人功能丧失和残疾的主要原因之一。研究表明，没有痴呆的养老院患者通过体育锻炼可以改善日常生活活动能力、力量、平衡和心理健康。关于体育锻炼对患有痴呆的养老院患者影响的证据稀少且不明确。因此，本研究的主要目的是调查高强度功能锻炼计划对患有痴呆的养老院居民平衡能力的影响。次要目的是检查这种锻炼对肌肉力量、活动能力、日常生活活动、生活质量和神经精神症状的影响。
这项单盲随机对照试验在170名居住在养老院的痴呆患者中进行。平均年龄为86.7岁（标准差 = 7.4），74%为女性。参与者被随机分配到干预组（n = 87）或对照组（n = 83）。干预包括每周两次、为期12周的小组强化和平衡锻炼。对照条件为休闲活动。
干预组在伯格平衡量表上的得分提高了2.9分，显著高于对照组的1.2分（p = 0.02）。干预后锻炼12次或更多次与力量改善显著相关（p<0.05）。与对照组相比，干预后锻炼组的冷漠程度较低（p = 0.048）。
我们的研究结果表明，高强度功能锻炼计划改善了患有痴呆的养老院患者的平衡和肌肉力量，并减少了冷漠情绪。
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02262104。
