Physical Activity May Not Reduce Frailty Risk, Despite Previous Evidence

Structured, moderate-intensity physical activity likely does not reduce the risk of frailty in older adults, despite limited evidence suggesting otherwise, according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers evaluated 1635 community-dwelling adults with functional limitations at 8 centers in the United States. Patient age ranged from 70 to 89 years. Follow-up lasted 24 months.
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Each patient was assigned to participate in either a structured, moderate-intensity physical activity program involving aerobic, resistance, and flexibility activities, or a health education program comprised of workshops and stretching exercises.

Frailty was measured at baseline and 6, 12, and 24 months based on the 3 criteria of the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) index. Major mobility disability (MMD), defined as the inability to walk a quarter of a mile, was measured for up to 3.5 years.

Findings showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the risk for frailty (n = 1623) between groups (adjusted prevalence difference −0.021). In regard to SOF index criteria, participants in the physical activity intervention demonstrated improvement in the inability to rise from a chair (adjusted prevalence difference, −0.050). However, baseline frailty status was not associated with the effect of physical activity on reducing incident MMD.

“A structured, moderate-intensity physical activity program was not associated with a reduced risk for frailty over 2 years among sedentary, community-dwelling older adults,” the researchers concluded. “The beneficial effect of physical activity on the incidence of MMD did not differ between frail and nonfrail participants.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Trombetti A, Hars M, Hsu FC, et al. Effect of physical activity on frailty: secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial [Published online January 9, 2018]. Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/M16-2011.