The beneficial effects of exercise interventions for older people with frailty were investigated in a randomized controlled clinical trial. The duration of the intervention was 12-week. Eighty-four participants were recruited. Forty-five were randomized to intervention and 39 to control. Forty intervention participants and 30 control participants were included in the analysis.

Outcome measures included: TUGT (time up and go test), Barthel index of ADL (activities of daily living), EuroQol Group 5-Dimension self-reported questionnaire, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).

The TUGT was developed as a basic mobility test for older people and has good accuracy for identifying Frailty. The Barthel index assesses functional status on a 20-point scale; higher scores indicate greater independence. The EuroQol Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire is a standardised measure of health utility reported as a summary index score (0 for dead, 1 for perfect health and negative values for states worse than death). The Geriatric Depression Scale - Short Form 15 (GDS) is a screen for the presence and severity of depression in older people; a score of 0-4 indicates no depression, 5-10 is suggestive of mild depression and 11-15 is suggestive of severe depression.

The unadjusted and adjusted between-group differences are presented in the attached table.

Quiz - table .jpg

Table 2. Unadjusted and adjusted mean between-group differences in the primary and secondary outcomes Outcome measure Intervention group (mean (SD)), " =40 Control group (mean (SD)), "= 30 Unadjusted between-group Adjusted between-group Baseline Follow-up Change Baseline Follow-up Change differences [mean (95% CT)] differences [mean (95% CI)] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TUGT (5) 520 (624) 62.4 (77.7) -10.4 (64.0) 57.9 (74.1) 97.0 (116.7) -39.1 (90.6) 28.7 (-8.2, 65.5) 28.6 (-8.5, 65.9) Barthd index 15.9 (3.7) 15.6 (4.0) -0.3 (2.4) 15.8 (4.1) 15.0 (4.0) -0.8 (3.1) 0.6 (-0.7, 1.8) 0.6 (-0.7, 1.8) EQ-5D 0.53 (0.30) 0.51 (0.34) -0.02 (0.30) 0.52 (0.25) 0.46 (0.26) -0.06 (0.23) 0.04 (-0.04, 0.06) 0.04 (-0.09, 0.18) GDS 3.8 (2.7) 3.4 (3.3) 0.4 (2.0) 5.0 (3.2) 4.8 (3.0) 0.2 (3.2) 0.2 (-1.1, 1.5) 0.2 (-1.1, 1.5) SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval; EQ-5D, EuroQol Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire; GDS, geriatric depression scale