Abstract
Background: A reduction in physical activity levels in older people is associated with declining quality of life and lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels associated with cardiovascular disease outcomes and mortality from all causes. Evidence supports the positive effect of community-based exercise (CEXE) programs on cardiovascular health and quality of life. This research aimed to examine the effects of a 3-month CEXE on health-related quality of life and cardiovascular risk factors in two Brazilian populations.Methods: Adults with an average age of 70.2 ± 5.4 years were recruited to engage in an individually designed group based CEXE program two to three times/week (aerobic exercise, circuit resistance training, and stretching exercises for 1 h each time). Once a week, competitions were held to improve socialization and collaboration capacity among group members. The CEXE group was compared with a sedentary group. Cardiovascular outcomes were blood pressure, triglycerides, body mass index, waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and glycemia. Health-related quality of life was evaluated using the Short Form-36.Results: Of the cardiovascular outcomes studied, the CEXE program significantly reduced systolic blood pressure [5.7 (95% CI 0.2 to 11.3), p < 0.05] and the triglyceride–HDL-C ratio [0.8 (95% CI 0.05 to 1.5), p < 0.05], whereas HDL-C was significantly increased [4.4 (95% CI 0.02 to 8.8), p < 0.05]. A significant improvement in the Short Form-36 subscales occurred in CEXE but not in the control group: physical functioning score [increase of 24.2 (95% CI 11.8 to 36.5) vs. −9.2 (95% CI −21.5 to 3.2), p < 0.001], physical role functioning score [increase of 35.4 (95% CI 12.8 to 58.0) vs. 16.7 (95% CI −6.0 to 39.3), p < 0.01], and general health score [increase of 23.7 (95% CI: 36.9. to 10.4) vs. 2.4 (95% CI −10.9 to 15.7), p < 0.001].Conclusion: This study shows that in older adults, a 12-week physical activity program can significantly decrease cardiovascular risk and improve health-related quality of life measures. An important transferable sociocultural strategy of our exercise program was to establish social interactions during and outside the CEXE program.
Highlights
A reduction in physical activity levels in older people is associated with declining quality of life and lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels associated with cardiovascular disease outcomes and mortality from all causes
A decline in functional fitness in older women is related to worsening of quality of life (QoL) [5] and a lower cardiorespiratory fitness level, which are associated with cardiovascular disease events and mortality from all causes [6]
Of the investigated cardiovascular outcome measures, significantly decreased by the exercise programs (EXEs) program were systolic BP [5.7, p < 0.05] (Figure 1) and the triglyceride– high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio [0.8, p < 0.05], whereas HDL-C was significantly increased [4.4, p < 0.05] (Figure 2)
Summary
A reduction in physical activity levels in older people is associated with declining quality of life and lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels associated with cardiovascular disease outcomes and mortality from all causes. This research aimed to examine the effects of a 3-month CEXE on health-related quality of life and cardiovascular risk factors in two Brazilian populations. Increases in both longevity and older adults have been observed globally over the past years. A decline in functional fitness in older women is related to worsening of QoL [5] and a lower cardiorespiratory fitness level, which are associated with cardiovascular disease events and mortality from all causes [6]. Besides Brazil and Latin America, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases associated with physical inactivity of older adults is growing worldwide, in women [7, 8]
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