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BackgroundOlder adults are the fastest growing segment of the world‘s population. Recent evidence indicates that excessive sitting time is harmful to health, independent of meeting the recommended moderate to vigorous physical activity (PA) guidelines. The SITLESS project aims to determine whether exercise referral schemes (ERS) can be enhanced by self-management strategies (SMSs) to reduce sedentary behaviour (SB), increase PA and improve health, quality of life and function in the long term, as well as psychosocial outcomes in community-dwelling older European citizens from four countries, within a three-armed pragmatic randomised controlled trial, compared with ERS alone and also with general recommendations about PA.MethodsA total of 1338 older adults will be included in this study, recruited from four European countries through different existing primary prevention pathways. Participants will be randomly allocated into an ERS of 16 weeks (32 sessions, 45–60 min per session), ERS enhanced by seven sessions of SMSs and four telephone prompts, or a control group. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, month 4 (end of ERS intervention), month 16 (12 months post intervention) and month 22 (18 months post intervention). Primary outcomes will include measures of SB (time spent sedentary) and PA (counts per minute). Secondary outcomes will include muscle and physical function, health economics’ related outcomes, anthropometry, quality of life, social networks, anxiety and depressive symptoms, disability, fear of falling, executive function and fatigue. A process evaluation will be conducted throughout the trial. The full analysis set will follow an intention-to-treat principle and will include all randomised participants for whom a baseline assessment is conducted. The study hypothesis will be tested with mixed linear models with repeated measures, to assess changes in the main outcomes (SB and PA) over time (baseline to month 22) and between study arms.DiscussionThe findings of this study may help inform the design and implementation of more effective interventions to reduce SB and increase PA levels, and hence improve long-term health outcomes in the older adult population. SITLESS aims to support policy-makers in deciding how or whether ERS should be further implemented or restructured in order to increase its adherence, impact and cost-effectiveness.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02629666. Registered 19 November 2015.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-1956-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) are important determinants of health in older adults. This study aimed to describe the composition of accelerometer-measured SB and PA in older adults, to explore self-reported context-specific SB, and to assess sociodemographic and functional correlates of engaging in higher levels of SB in participants of a multicenter study including four European countries. Method One thousand three hundred and sixty community-dwelling older adults from the SITLESS study (61.8% women; 75.3 ± 6.3 years) completed a self-reported SB questionnaire and wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 7 days. Accelerometer-determined compositional descriptive statistics were calculated. A fixed-effects regression analysis was conducted to assess the sociodemographic (country, age, sex, civil status, education, and medications) and functional (body mass index and gait speed) correlates. Results Older adults spent 78.8% of waking time in SB, 18.6% in light-intensity PA, and 2.6% in moderate-to-vigorous PA. Accelerometry showed that women engaged in more light-intensity PA and walking and men engaged in higher amounts of moderate-to-vigorous PA. Watching television and reading accounted for 47.2% of waking time. Older age, being a man, single, taking more medications, being obese and overweight, and having a slower gait speed were statistically significant correlates of more sedentary time. Conclusions The high amount of SB of our participants justifies the need to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce sitting time. A clinically relevant change in gait speed can decrease almost 0.45 percentage points of sedentary time. The distribution of context-specific sedentary activities by country and sex showed minor differences, albeit worth noting.

The study aim was to explore associations between sedentary behavior (SB) bouts and physical function in 1360 community‐dwelling older adults (≥65 years old). SB was measured using an ActiGraph wGT3X + accelerometer for seven consecutive days at the dominant hip and processed accordingly. Various SB bout lengths were assessed including: 1‐ to 9‐minutes; 10‐ to 29‐minutes; 30‐ to 59‐minutes; and ≥60‐minutes, as well as maximum time spent in a SB bout. Total SB time was adjusted for within the SB bout variables used (percentage SB time in the SB bout length and number of SB bouts per total SB hour). Physical function was assessed using the 2‐minute walk test (2MWT), 5‐times sit‐to‐stand (chair stand) test, and unipedal stance test (UST). Hierarchical linear regression models were utilized. Covariates such as moderate‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA), demographic and health characteristics were controlled for. Lower percentage time spent in ≥60‐minute SB bouts was significantly (P < .05) associated with longer 2MWT distance while lower numbers of ≥60‐minute SB bouts were associated with longer 2MWT distance, shorter chair stand time and longer UST time. There were mixed associations with physical function for 10‐ to 29‐minute SB bouts. In a large cohort of European older adults, prolonged SB bouts lasting ≥60‐minutes appear to be associated with reduced physical function after controlling for MVPA and numerous other important covariates. Besides reducing SB levels, these findings suggest there is a need to regularly interrupt prolonged SB to improve physical function in older adults.

Background: The SITLESS programme comprises exercise referral schemes and self-management strategies and has been evaluated in a trial in Denmark, Spain, Germany and Northern Ireland. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the implementation and contextual aspects of the intervention in relation to the mechanisms of impact and to explore the perceived effects. Methods: Qualitative methodologies were nested in the SITLESS trial including 71 individual interviews and 12 focus groups targeting intervention and control group participants from postintervention to 18-month follow-up in all intervention sites based on a semi-structured topic guide. Results: Overarching themes were identified under the framework categories of context, implementation, mechanisms of impact and perceived effects. The findings highlight the perceived barriers and facilitators to older adults’ engagement in exercise referral schemes. Social interaction and enjoyment through the group-based programmes are key components to promote adherence and encourage the maintenance of targeted behaviours through peer support and connectedness. Exit strategies and signposting to relevant classes and facilities enabled the maintenance of positive lifestyle behaviours. Conclusions: When designing and implementing interventions, key components enhancing social interaction, enjoyment and continuity should be in place in order to successfully promote sustained behaviour change.