Objective To assess the preliminary effects of a buddy-style intervention to improve exercise adherence. Design A parallel-group, open-label, pilot randomized controlled trial. Setting Adult day-care centers. Participants Sixty-five disabled older adults. Interventions All participants underwent a 12-week home exercise program, and the intervention group received a 5–10 min buddy-style intervention between older adults in the intervention group once weekly at an adult day-care center. Main measures Based on the exercise log calendar, the number of days of exercise was assessed for each of the three phases: 1–4 weeks, 5–8 weeks, and 9–12 weeks. Short physical performance battery was measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. Results Of the 590 screened older adults, 65 were recruited and 33 were assigned to the intervention group. One participant in each group withdrew before the program began, and four and five patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively, dropped out by the 12-week assessment. Analysis of covariance of the 28 and 26 patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively, for whom exercise log calendars could be retrieved, showed that the intervention group (24.4/28 days) exercised significantly more days than the control group (20.6/28 days) at 9–12 weeks ( P = 0.009). In the between-group effect of the intention-to-treat analysis of short physical performance battery, walking and standing test ( P = 0.790, P = 0.829) were not significantly different, and balance test ( P = 0.049) was significantly better in the control group. Conclusions There was a preliminary effect of the buddy-style intervention to improve exercise adherence.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects that thoracic spinal curvature, lumbar spinal curvature, and the angle of posterior pelvic tilt have on thorax mobility and pulmonary function [Subjects] Fourteen healthy adult males. [Methods] We measured the thorax mobility and pulmonary function at different pelvic and spinal alignments in the sitting position. The pelvis was positioned at 0, 10, 30 and 50 degrees posterior tilt, and the changes in spinal alignment elicited by the changes in pelvic position were measured. The relationships between thorax mobility, pulmonary function and thoracic spinal curvature, lumbar spinal curvature, and the angle of posterior pelvic tilt were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. [Results] Thorax mobility and pulmonary function were the most affected by changes in posterior pelvic tilt, followed by lumbar spinal curvature and thoracic spinal curvature.[Conclusion] These results suggest that improvement of the angle of posterior pelvic tilt would potentially improve thorax mobility and pulmonary function.

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Objective To assess the sustained effects of a buddy-style intervention aiming to improve physical activity. Design A parallel-group, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Setting Three adult day-care centers. Participants Sixty-five community-dwelling older adults with disabilities. Intervention All participants received a 12-week home-based exercise program. An intervention group ( n = 33) received a 5–10 min buddy-style intervention once a week at an adult day-care center for older adults. Main measures The primary outcome was the average daily time spent performing “walking outside home” and “muscle strength exercises” at 24 weeks follow-up post-intervention. Results Of the 65 participants, one participant in each group dropped out before the program began, 4 and 5 in the intervention and control groups by the 12-week assessment, and 4 and 3 by the 24-week assessment, respectively. Analysis of covariance of the 47 participants who were able to be assessed after 24 weeks revealed that outdoor walking time (min/day) was significantly longer in the intervention group ( n = 24) than in the control group ( n = 23) at 24 weeks (intervention group, 73.5 [66.1]; control group, 42.7 [45.5]; P = 0.030, f = 0.38). There was no significant difference in the duration of muscle strength exercises (min/day) between the two groups at 24 weeks (intervention group, 8.2 [9.7]; control group, 6.5 [9.3]; P = 0.593, f = 0.08). Conclusions The buddy-style intervention increased the duration of outdoor walking, with a sustained effect up to 12 weeks after the end of the intervention.