Abstract
Ageing is related to changes in physical health, including loss of mobility and muscle function. It can lead to impaired physical capability and reduced quality of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a physical activity rehabilitation program (PARP) could improve range of joint motion (ROM), grip strength, and gait speed of older adults with mild disabilities. Forty older adults in a long-term care center in Taiwan joined as human participants and were split into control and experimental groups. The participants in the experimental group joined a PARP for eight weeks. The ROM of bodily joints, grip strength, and gait speed of all participants were measured both before and after the eight-week period. The results showed that all the ROMs, grip strength, and gait speed of the participants in the experimental group increased significantly after attending the program. The improvement of the ROMs for male and female participants in the experimental group ranged from 3.8% to 71% and from 7.8% to 75%, respectively. Male participants had greater improvement on gait speed (50%) than their female counterparts (22.9%). Female participants, on the other hand, had greater improvement on grip strength (25.4%) than their male counterparts (20.3%). The ROM, grip strength, and gait speed of the control group, on the other hand, did not change significantly during the same period. The results showed that the PARP adopted in this study was effective in increasing the ROM, grip strength, and gait speed of those who had joined the PARP. This study shows that an eight-week PARP without the use of gym machines was beneficial in reducing sarcopenia in elderly people with mild disabilities.
Highlights
They could wear and take off their clothes slowly on their own but needed caregivers to assist them in taking a bath. They could eat with a spoon but could not use chopsticks. Their mild disabilities were assessed by a rehabilitation physician of the center using both the activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scales [2,9,10]
The leading improvement of the ROM was observed at the hip and the lowest improvement was the shoulder horizon extension and flexion (7.8%). These findings indicated that the participants experienced significant changes in the range of joint motion after joining the physical activity rehabilitation program (PARP)
Male participants in the experimental group had greater improvement (50.0%) on gait speed after attending the PARP than that of their male counterparts (22.9%)
Summary
Ageing is a common phenomenon for both developed and developing countries. Due to the remarkable gain of life expectancy, older adult populations are growing rapidly [1].Many older adults are losing their mental and/or physical functions and are becoming partially or totally disabled [2–4]. Ageing is a common phenomenon for both developed and developing countries. Due to the remarkable gain of life expectancy, older adult populations are growing rapidly [1]. Many older adults are losing their mental and/or physical functions and are becoming partially or totally disabled [2–4]. The need for long-term care for those individuals is becoming urgent. The literature has shown that in 2020 there were approximately half a million adults aged 65 or older with mild disabilities who needed long-term care in Taiwan [5]. The impaired body parts of those individuals may have limited mobility, weakness of muscular strength, and incapability to walk independently [6,7]. Performing activities of daily living (ADL) becomes a problem for those adults [8,9]
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