Characteristics of Physical Exercise Programs for Older Adults in Latin America: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Aim: To characterize physical exercise programs for older adults in Latin America. Methods: This review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement. A search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between the years 2015 and 2020 was performed in the Scopus, MedLine and SciELO databases. Results: A total of 101 RCTs were included. A large percentage of the studies had an unclear risk of bias in the items: selection, performance, detection and attribution. Furthermore, a heterogeneous level of compliance was observed in the CERT items. A total sample of 5013 older adults (79% women) was included. 97% of the studies included older adults between 60–70 years, presenting an adherence to the interventions of 86%. The studies were mainly carried out in older adults with cardiometabolic diseases. Only 44% of the studies detailed information regarding the place of intervention; of these studies, 61% developed their interventions in university facilities. The interventions were mainly based on therapeutic physical exercise (89% of the articles), with a duration of 2–6 months (95% of the articles) and a frequency of 2–3 times a week (95% of the articles) with sessions of 30–60 min (94% of the articles) led by sports science professionals (51% of the articles). The components of physical fitness that were exercised the most were muscular strength (77% of the articles) and cardiorespiratory fitness (47% of the articles). Furthermore, only 48% of the studies included a warm-up stage and 34% of the studies included a cool-down stage. Conclusions: This systematic review characterized the physical exercise programs in older adults in Latin America, as well the most frequently used outcome measures and instruments, by summarizing available evidence derived from RCTs. The results will be useful for prescribing future physical exercise programs in older adults.

A Multi-Domain Group-Based Intervention to Promote Physical Activity, Healthy Nutrition, and Psychological Wellbeing in Older People with Losses in Intrinsic Capacity: AMICOPE Development Study

“…To date, the few examples found using the GUIDED checklist include two peer-reviewed articles reporting interventions aimed at improving mental health help-seeking behaviors for male students [ 73 ] and anxiety and depression management in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [ 74 ], two pre-prints reporting interventions aimed to improve early diagnosis of cancer in primary care [ 75 ] and targeting antipsychotic prescription to nursing home residents with dementia [ 76 ], and one doctoral thesis reporting an arts-based intervention for patients with kidney disease [ 77 ]. However, some researchers have used the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) [ 78 ] to characterize physical activity programs for older adults in Latin America [ 36 ] and assess the feasibility of an enhanced prescribed exercise program in older acute medical patients [ 79 ] and the effectiveness of falls prevention interventions on reducing falls in hospitalized adults [ 80 ].…”

“…This framework is appropriate to be applied in those interventions including a number of components interacting with each other, several recipients and outcomes, different skills needed by the facilitators and a certain level of tailoring. During the intervention development process, decisions were taken in accordance with evidence from similar interventions and results from our previous studies [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 62 ]. We also integrated the recommendations of a working group, the appropriateness of different frameworks used in implementation research, and evidence shown by few strategies which seemed to be effective.…”

“…Current physical activity and physical exercise recommendations for ageing suggest accumulating a minimum of 150 min of moderate aerobic physical activity or 75 min of vigorous aerobic physical activity and varied multicomponent physical activities three or more days a week, to improve functional capacity and prevent falls [ 30 ]. A recent systematic review describing physical exercise programs for older adults in Latin America [ 36 ] showed that interventions were mainly based on therapeutic physical exercise with a duration of 2–6 months and a frequency of 2–3 times a week with sessions lasting 30–60 min. The components of physical fitness that were exercised the most were muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness.…”

A Multi-Domain Group-Based Intervention to Promote Physical Activity, Healthy Nutrition, and Psychological Wellbeing in Older People with Losses in Intrinsic Capacity: AMICOPE Development Study

“…To date, the few examples found using the GUIDED checklist includes two peer-reviewed articles reporting interventions aimed to improve mental health help-seeking behaviours for male students [73], and anxiety and depression management in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [74]; two pre-prints reporting interventions aimed to improve early diagnosis of cancer in primary care [75] and targeting antipsychotic prescription to nursing home residents with dementia [76]; and one doctoral thesis reporting an arts-based intervention for patients with kidney disease [77]. However, some researchers have used the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) [78] to characterize physical activity programs for older adults in Latin America [36], and assess the feasibility of an enhanced prescribed exercise program in older acute medical patients [79] and the effectiveness of falls prevention interventions on reducing falls in hospitalized adults [80].…”

“…This framework is appropriate to be applied for those interventions including a number of components interacting with each other, several recipients and outcomes, different skills needed by the facilitators and certain level of tailoring. During the intervention development process, decisions were taken in accordance with evidence from resembling interventions delivered to frail older people, and results from our previous studies [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]62]. We also integrated the recommendations of a working group, the appropriateness of different frameworks used in implementation research, and evidence shown by few strategies which seemed to be effective.…”