Long-term effects of a 12 weeks high-intensity functional exercise program on physical function and mental health in nursing home residents with dementia: a single blinded randomized controlled trial
Journal article, Peer reviewed
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/10642/3029Utgivelsesdato
2015Metadata
Vis full innførselSamlinger
Originalversjon
Telenius, E. W., Engedal, K., & Bergland, A. (2015). Long-term effects of a 12 weeks high-intensity functional exercise program on physical function and mental health in nursing home residents with dementia: a single blinded randomized controlled trial. BMC geriatrics, 15(1), 1. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1186/s12877-015-0151-8Sammendrag
Background:Research indicates that exercise can have a positive effect on both physical and mental health innursing home patients with dementia, however the lasting effect is rarely studied. In a previously published articlewe investigated the immediate effect of a 12 weeks functional exercise program on physical function and mentalhealth in nursing home residents with dementia. In this paper we studied the long-term effect of this exerciseprogram. We explored the differences between the exercise and control group from baseline to 6 months follow-upand during the detraining period from month 3 to 6.Methods:A single blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted and a total of 170 nursing home residentswith dementia were included. The participants were randomly allocated to an intervention (n= 87) or a controlgroup (n= 83). The intervention consisted of intensive strengthening and balance exercises in small groups twicea week for 12 weeks. The control condition was leisure activities. Thirty participants were lost between baselineand six-month follow-up. Linear mixed model analyses for repeated measurements were used to investigate theeffect of exercise after detraining period.Results:The exercise group improved their scores on Berg Balance Scale from baseline to 6 months follow-up by2.7 points in average. The control group deteriorated in the same period and the difference between groups wasstatistically significant (p= 0.031). The exercise group also scored better on NPI agitation sub-score after 6 months(p= 0.045).Conclusion:The results demonstrate long-time positive effects of a high intensity functional exercise program onbalance and indicate a positive effect on agitation, after an intervention period of 12 weeks followed by a detrainingperiod of 12 weeks.