Functional Fitness
Conditions
Brief summary
The goals of this research project were: 1) to develop a senior-tailored Healthy Beat Accupunch (HBA) exercise program for community-dwelling older adults, 2) to test the effects of a six-month, instructor-led HBA exercise program, and 3) to evaluate the feasibility, compliance, and long-term effects of a six-month, DVD-guide HBA exercise program.
Detailed description
A three-year, longitudinal, triangulation research method was applied. First Year (Phase I): A preliminary HBA exercise program, including hard copy descriptions and DVD demonstrations of each exercise, was mailed to the 16 experts in the Delphi advisory panel for their critique and evaluation. First Year (Phase II): A quasi-experimental, one-group, pretest-posttest design was used to pilot-test the feasibility of the HBA exercise program on a group of 31 community-dwelling older adults in a community care station. Second Year: A cluster randomized controlled trial was used to test the effects of a six-month, instructor-led HBA exercise program on the functional fitness (cardiovascular-respiratory function, body flexibility, muscle strength, and muscle endurance) of the community-dwelling older adults. Through the use of convenience sampling strategy, eight community care stations with 232 older adults in Kaohsiung were recruited and randomly assigned based on their community care stations to a HBA experimental group or a wait-list control group. Participants in the experimental group received the HBA exercise program led by trained and certified instructors, three times per week, 40 minutes per practice for six months; participants in the wait-list control group continued with their regular daily activities. One pre-test and two post-tests, three months apart, were conducted. Third Year: Using the same method as in the second year, participants from the second year continued practicing the HBA exercise program, but guided by a DVD, for another six months. The feasibility, compliance, and effectiveness of the DVD-led HBA exercise program on the community-dwelling older adults were tested, and another two post-tests, three months apart, were conducted on the same outcome measurements as in the second year.
Interventions
OTHERHealthy Beat Accupunch exercise program
HBA has three phases and takes 40 minutes to complete.
OTHERcontrol
participants maintain their daily activities.
Sponsors
National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan
Kaohsiung Medical University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and over * Mandarin or Taiwanese speakers * able to stand and walk without assistive devices * cognitive alert and able to verbally state their name, address, and answer questions.
Exclusion criteria
* participants with severe and acute cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, or pulmonary illnesses.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Sphygmomanometer | 12 months | Blood Pressure |
| TruZoneTM Peak Flow Meter | 12 months | Lung Capacity |
| Two-minute Step Test | 12 months | Aerobic Endurance |
| Back Scratch Test | 12 months | Upper Body Flexibility |
| Chair Sit-and-Reach Test | 12 months | Lower Body Flexibility |
| Digital Handgrip Dynamometer | 12 months | Hand-Grip Strength |
| Arm Curl Test | 12 months | Upper Limbs Muscle Endurance |
| Chair Sit-to-Stand Test | 12 months | Lower Limbs Muscle Endurance |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Barthel Index | 12 months | ADL |
| chronic pain | 12 months | pain scale |
Countries
Taiwan
Outcome results
None listed