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The effects of exercise on strength and physical performance in frail older people: a systematic review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2012

Katharine CM Nash
Katharine CM Nash*
Affiliation:
Royal United Hospital NHS Trust, Bath, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Mrs Katharine CM Nash, Physiotherapy Department, Royal United Hospital NHS Trust, Combe Park, Bath BA1 3NG. Email: [email protected]
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Summary

The proportion of older people becoming frail will increase with the expanding older population. Apart from poor health, frailty is associated with loss of strength and functional dependency. Building on previous work in this area, this review investigates the effectiveness, sustainability and adverse effects of exercise interventions on muscle strength and physical performance in frail older people. Randomized controlled trials reporting physical outcomes in frail older people were identified from seven electronic databases. Thirteen trials involving 1652 participants met the inclusion criteria. There was wide heterogeneity in degree of frailty, types of intervention, outcome measures and results. However, evidence from this review suggests that exercise and some physical activity programmes, particularly moderate intensity and multi-component programmes, are safe and can improve strength and function in the majority of frail older people except highly frail individuals with multiple co-morbidities. There was limited evidence on transferability of improvements into everyday life, and sustainability could not be determined.

Keywords

frailtyexercisephysical trainingrandomized controlled trialssystematic review
Type
Intermediate care and rehabilitation
Information
Reviews in Clinical Gerontology , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , November 2012 , pp. 274 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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