Home Physical Exercise Protocol for Older Adults, Applied Remotely During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for Randomized and Controlled Trial

Abstract

The emergence of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) at the beginning of 2020, considered a public health emergency due to its high transmission rate and lack of specific treatment, led many countries to adhere to social isolation. Although necessary, social isolation causes important psychological changes, negatively affecting the health of the population, including the older population. The aim of this study is to propose a 4-week, home-based physical exercise protocol for older people in social isolation and evaluate whether will promote positive changes in psychological variables such as anxiety, mood, depression, and stress, and in the variables sleep, quality of life, and physical capacities in the older adults. The sample will be selected in a probabilistic way from individuals aged 60 years or more from the city of Itajaí (Santa Catarina, Brazil). Of these, half will perform a home-based resistance training protocol, with 3 weekly sessions, for 4 consecutive weeks. For group allocation, patients will be randomized with a computer-generated 1:1 allocation to the physical exercise (PE) group or control group. Outcomes will be depressive symptoms, sleep quality, quality of life, stress, mood states, anxiety, and functional capacity, evaluated at baseline, after 4 weeks, and after 15 days of follow-up. This study will offer a home-based exercise protocol for older adults, with load progression and remote monitoring, thus filling a gap in the provision of PE in this population. The results will be able to identify possible improvements not only in physical health, but also in quality of life and mental health.Clinical Trial Registration: The trial registration was carried out in the Brazil Clinical Trials Registry (RBR-5qh6f3v). (https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-5qh6f3v).

The Effect of Physical Exercise during COVID-19 Lockdown

“…Considering what was shown by the correlation analysis, participants who devoted a higher number of days to VPE and MPE during lockdown had a better mental health status; they tend to represent themselves as less depressed and more satisfied than people with a lower frequency of physical exercise. Staying on this topic, the findings of the present study are in line with multiple studies that have pointed out how indoor physical exercise has presented a massive protective factor for health during the national lockdown [34,35], even for older subjects [36,37] and other fragile categories [38][39][40][41]. It is also reasonable to consider that some exercise habits, such as outdoor exercise, can be less healthy considering the role of environmental pollutants after the end of the lockdown measures and its effect observed on indoor and outdoor workers [42,43].…”

Effects of Air Pollution on the Health of Older Adults during Physical Activities: Mapping Review

“…In the current scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for studies with these outcomes increases even more [ 110 , 111 ]. The idea is to provide greater safety and evidence of the risks and benefits to older adults, in different scenarios of pollution, environments, and PA.…”

Effects of Cognitive Appraisals on Perceived Self-Efficacy and Distress during the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Empirical Analysis Based on Structural Equation Modeling

“…Therefore, including a population living in a large city could have shown different effects on the psychological perceptions of discomfort, such as smaller living spaces being even more common, the presence of more people cohabiting in small spaces, and the reduced availability of outdoor areas, such as balconies, gardens, and courtyards. Considering that the practice of sports was reported as a positive factor for several physical and psychological health outcomes from children and adolescents to the elderly [ 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ], future analyses could include a specific assessment concerning the impact of these factors.…”