[Functional improvement in frail older adults through the Vivifrail exercise program, during two years of pandemic].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Physical exercise increases functional capacity in older adults, helping to prevent or delay dependence. This study evaluates the impact of a multicomponent physical exercise intervention based on the Vivifrail program, conducted in a primary care center over two years coinciding with the COVID pandemic.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Descriptive longitudinal design with before-after comparison without control group. Participants were older than 65 years old with functional impairment measured by execution test, enrolled in the El Palo Health Center, Málaga. The intervention consists of two weekly group sessions of physical exercise guided by a monitor, according to the Vivifrail program.

VARIABLES

Barthel Index, Gait Speed, Vivifrail Category, Quality of Life (EuroQol 5-D [EQ-5D]), use of walking aids, number of falls in the previous year.

MEASUREMENTS

baseline, second (one year) and final (two years). Analysis of the Kruskal-Wallis test, significance level 0.05.

RESULTS

Twenty patients were evaluated. Between the first and second evaluation, we observed a significant modification in the use of walking aids (p 0.01) and Vivifrail categories: from an initial B category, 50% remained, 25% moved to A, 16.7% to C2 and 8.3% to D (p 0.048). In the analysis of the baseline-final evaluation, we found a statistically significant improvement in quality of life measured by EQ-5D (mean increase of 24 points in today's quality of life measurement, EQ-5D thermometer, with 95% CI (9.6-38.3), p 0.004) and Vivifrail category (n=10) with 60% remaining in category B and 40% moving to D (autonomous) (p<0.0001). There was a trend towards improvement in gait speed, daily walking time, and number of falls, but without reaching statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

Multicomponent physical exercise improves perceived quality of life measured by EQ-5D and leads to a trend towards improvement in functional capacity, mood, and number of falls.