Physical activity prevented functional decline among frail community-living elderly subjects in an international observational study

Objectives: The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence of physical activity in a sample of older adults in home care in Europe and to examine the relationship between physical activity and incident disability.

Study Design and Setting: Study population consisted of a random sample of 2,005 subjects aged 65 or older admitted to home care programs in 11 European Home Health Agencies who participated in AgeD in Home Care project. Participants who reported spending 2 or more hours of physical activities in last 3 days were defined physically active. Disability performing activities of daily living was defined as the need of assistance in one or more of the following ADL eating, dressing, transferring, mobility in bed, personal hygiene, and toileting.

Results: More than 50% of participants were physically active. During a median follow-up of 12 months, 370 subjects (15%) became disabled. After adjusting for age, gender, and other possible confounding variables, active subjects were significantly less likely to become disabled compared to those reporting no or very low-intensity physical activity (OR, 0.67; 95% CI 0.53-0.84).

Conclusions: These findings support the possibility that physical activity has an independent effect on functional autonomy among frail and old people.