Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, UK.
School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
BMC Geriatr. 2024 Sep 4;24(1):733. doi: 10.1186/s12877-024-05324-3.
Low physical activity among older adults is related to adverse health outcomes such as depression and loneliness, poor physical function and increased risk of falls. This study was designed to increase physical activity through a digital, group-based, physical activity and music intervention and to examine its effectiveness on social, mental and physical health outcomes.
Participants were 34 older adults (65 years +) recruited across four care homes in Scotland to a pilot study. Surveys were administered at baseline and post-intervention, comprising measures of fear of falling, depression and anxiety, loneliness, sleep satisfaction and quality of life. A battery of physical function tests and saliva sampling for cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone hormone analysis were also conducted at each time point. Additionally, process evaluation measures (recruitment, intervention fidelity, attendance, retention rates and safety) were monitored. The intervention comprised 12 weeks of three prescribed digital sessions per week: movement and music (n = 2) and music-only (n = 1), delivered by an activity coordinator in the care home. Post-intervention interviews with staff and participants were conducted to gain qualitative data on the acceptability of the intervention.
An average of 88% of prescribed sessions were delivered. Pre- to post-intervention intention-to-treat analysis across all participants revealed significant improvements in anxiety, salivary DHEA, fear of falling and loneliness. There were no significant improvements in health-related quality of life, perceived stress, sleep satisfaction or physical function tests, including handgrip strength. Qualitative analysis highlighted benefits of and barriers to the programme.
The digital movement and music intervention was deemed acceptable and delivered with moderate fidelity, justifying progression to a full-scale trial. Although a proper control group would have yielded more confident causal relationships, preliminary psychosocial and biological effects were evident from this trial. To show significant improvements in physical function, it is likely that a bigger sample size providing sufficient power to detect significant changes, greater adherence, longer intervention and/or higher exercise volume may be necessary.
The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT05601102 on 01/11/2022.
老年人身体活动量低与抑郁和孤独、身体功能差以及跌倒风险增加等不良健康结果有关。本研究旨在通过数字、小组为基础的身体活动和音乐干预来增加身体活动，并检验其对社会、心理和身体健康结果的有效性。
参与者是从苏格兰的四个养老院招募的 34 名老年人（65 岁以上），参加一项试点研究。在基线和干预后进行了调查，包括对跌倒恐惧、抑郁和焦虑、孤独、睡眠满意度和生活质量的测量。还在每个时间点进行了一系列身体功能测试和唾液取样，用于皮质醇和脱氢表雄酮激素分析。此外，还监测了过程评估措施（招募、干预一致性、出勤率、保留率和安全性）。干预包括 12 周每周三次规定的数字课程：运动和音乐（n=2）和仅音乐（n=1），由养老院的活动协调员提供。干预后对工作人员和参与者进行了访谈，以获取对干预措施的可接受性的定性数据。
平均有 88%的规定课程得到了实施。对所有参与者进行的意向治疗分析显示，焦虑、唾液 DHEA、跌倒恐惧和孤独感均有显著改善。健康相关生活质量、感知压力、睡眠满意度或身体功能测试（包括握力）均无显著改善。定性分析突出了该计划的优点和障碍。
数字运动和音乐干预被认为是可以接受的，并且具有中等的一致性，可以为全面试验提供依据。尽管适当的对照组可能会产生更有信心的因果关系，但从这项试验中已经可以看到初步的心理社会和生物学影响。要显示身体功能的显著改善，可能需要更大的样本量提供足够的检测显著变化的能力、更高的依从性、更长的干预和/或更高的运动量。
该试验在 ClinicalTrials.gov 注册，注册号为 NCT05601102，于 2022 年 11 月 1 日注册。
