Pedometer-Based Behavioral Change Program Can Improve Dependency in Sedentary Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

Recent studies suggested that pedometer-based walking programs are applicable to older adults. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of pedometer in sedentary older adults to improve physical activity, fear of falling, physical performance, and leg muscle mass. This was a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT). Eighty-seven community dwelling sedentary older adults living in Japan. The intervention group (n=43) received a pedometer-based behavioural change program for 6 months, while the control group (n=44) did not. The participants in the intervention group were instructed to increase their mean daily steps by 10% each month. Thus, at the end of 6 months, participants in the intervention group were expected to have 77 % more daily steps than their baseline step counts. Written activity logs were monthly averaged to determine whether the participants were achieving their goal. Outcome measures were physical activity, fear of falling, physical performances, and leg muscle mass. In this 6-month trial 40 older adults (93%) completed the pedometer protocol with good adherence. In the intervention group, average daily steps were increased by 83.4% (from 20311323 to 3726 1607) during the study period, but not in the control group (from 20471698 to 22671837). The pedometer-based behavioral change program was more effective to improve their physical activity, fear of falling, locomotive function, and leg muscle mass than control (P<0.05). These results suggested that the pedometer-based behavioral change program can effectively improve the physical activity, fear of falling, physical performance, and leg muscle mass in sedentary older adults.