National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
BMC Geriatr. 2020 Nov 4;20(1):446. doi: 10.1186/s12877-020-01824-0.
Many research studies evaluate physical activity interventions for older people in the community, however relatively few successfully promote maintenance of physical activity beyond the completion of the intervention. This study aimed to implement and evaluate the effects of sustained engagement in physical activity on mental, social and physical health outcomes through the use of the Seniors Exercise Park physical activity program for older people (the ENJOY project).
People aged ≥60 years underwent a 12-week structured supervised physical activity program using outdoor exercise park equipment followed by 6 months unstructured independent use of the exercise park. Participants were assessed at baseline, 3 months and 9 months and completed a test battery evaluating physical activity, physical function and health related quality of life measures. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare differences between baseline, 3 and 9 months.
Of the 95 participants, 80 (84.2%) completed the 3 months supervised program, and 58 (61%) completed the 9 month assessment (the latter impacted by COVID-19 restrictions). A significant increase in physical activity level was demonstrated following the 12 weeks intervention (p < 0.01). Significant improvements were also demonstrated in all physical function measures (p < 0.01), self-rated quality of life (p < 0.05), wellbeing (p < 0.01), fear of falls (p < 0.01), falls risk (p < 0.01), depressive symptoms (p = 0.01) and loneliness (p = 0.03) at 3 months. At the 9 months follow up, significant improvements from baseline were demonstrated in the frequency, duration and total of physical activity level (p < 0.05), and all physical function measures (p < 0.05), with no decline in these measures from 3 to 9 months. At 9 months, significant changes were observed in the health related quality of life mobility and self care domains with reductions in both fear of falls and falls risk (p < 0.05).
The Seniors Exercise Park may be an effective modality for improving and sustaining older people's physical function and wellbeing and can be an important public health infrastructure investment in promoting physical activity for older people. Future work should focus on wider implementation of the program and on scaling up this initiative to achieve public health benefit for the community.
Trial registration number ACTRN12618001727235, Date of registration 19th October 2018, https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=375979.
许多研究评估了社区老年人的体育活动干预措施，但相对较少的研究成功地促进了体育活动的维持，使其超过干预的完成。本研究旨在通过使用老年人锻炼公园体育活动计划（ENJOY 项目），实施并评估持续参与体育活动对心理健康、社交和身体健康结果的影响。
年龄在 60 岁及以上的人参加了为期 12 周的结构化监督体育活动计划，使用户外锻炼公园设备，随后 6 个月独立使用锻炼公园。参与者在基线、3 个月和 9 个月进行评估，并完成了一套评估身体活动、身体功能和健康相关生活质量措施的测试。采用重复测量方差分析比较基线、3 个月和 9 个月之间的差异。
在 95 名参与者中，有 80 名（84.2%）完成了 3 个月的监督计划，有 58 名（61%）完成了 9 个月的评估（后者受到 COVID-19 限制的影响）。在 12 周的干预后，身体活动水平显著增加（p<0.01）。所有身体功能测量（p<0.01）、自我评定的生活质量（p<0.05）、幸福感（p<0.01）、跌倒恐惧（p<0.01）、跌倒风险（p<0.01）、抑郁症状（p=0.01）和孤独感（p=0.03）在 3 个月时也显著改善。在 9 个月的随访中，与基线相比，身体活动水平的频率、持续时间和总量（p<0.05）以及所有身体功能测量（p<0.05）均有显著改善，且这些指标在 3 至 9 个月之间没有下降。在 9 个月时，在健康相关生活质量移动和自我护理领域观察到显著变化，跌倒恐惧和跌倒风险均降低（p<0.05）。
老年人锻炼公园可能是改善和维持老年人身体功能和幸福感的有效方式，也是促进老年人身体活动的重要公共卫生基础设施投资。未来的工作应重点关注该计划的更广泛实施，并扩大这一举措，为社区带来公共卫生效益。
试验注册号 ACTRN12618001727235，注册日期 2018 年 10 月 19 日，https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=375979。
