Abstract
A randomized controlled trial was performed to compare the effects of a home-based physical and nutritional intervention program carried out by lay-volunteers to home visits with social support alone. Buddies visited 80 prefrail or frail older persons at home twice a week for 12 weeks. The physical training and nutrition group (PTN, n = 39) performed two sets of six strength exercises, discussed nutritional topics and received social support. The social support group (SoSu, n = 41) received home visits with social support only. In the PTN group, handgrip strength increased significantly by 2.4 kg (95% CI: 1.0–3.8). In the SoSu group we did not see a significant improvement. However, no significant between-group difference was found. Physical performance increased in both groups, although with a higher increase of 1.0 point (95% CI: 0.1–2.0) in the PTN group. In none of the groups muscle mass changed. Further results showed that frail individuals benefit more from the intervention than prefrail individuals (OR: 2.78; 95% CI: 1.01–7.66). Handgrip strength in the intervention group increased by a clinically relevant value and this effect is comparable to that obtained by health-care professionals. Therefore, home visits with a physical training and nutritional program could offer a new perspective in the care of community-dwelling prefrail and frail older persons.
Highlights
Frailty, a geriatric syndrome, is characterized by a decrease in biological functions [1] and a high susceptibility for adverse health outcomes [2]
No significant difference was observed between the Physical training and nutrition (PTN) and Social support (SoSu) groups
In the PTN group, we found a significant improvement in handgrip strength by 2.4 kg amounting to 21.6% of the baseline value
Summary
A geriatric syndrome, is characterized by a decrease in biological functions [1] and a high susceptibility for adverse health outcomes [2]. As sarcopenia and malnutrition contribute to the frailty syndrome [3], strength training, in combination with a nutritional intervention program, is an effective way to tackle frailty [4,5,6]. PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0169613 January 13, 2017
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