The Effectiveness of a Hybrid Exercise Program on the Physical Fitness of Frail Elderly

Abstract

Background: Frailty is a serious physical disorder affecting the elderly all over the world. However, the frail elderly have low physical fitness, which limits the effectiveness of current exercise programs. Inspired by this, we attempted to integrate Baduanjin and strength and endurance exercises into an exercise program to improve the physical fitness and alleviate frailty among the elderly. Additionally, to achieve the goals of personalized medicine, machine learning simulations were performed to predict post-intervention frailty. Methods: A total of 171 frail elderly individuals completed the experiment, including a Baduanjin group (BDJ), a strength and endurance training group (SE), and a combination of Baduanjin and strength and endurance training group (BDJSE), which lasted for 24 weeks. Physical fitness was evaluated by 10-meter maximum walk speed (10 m MWS), grip strength, the timed up-and-go test (TUGT), and the 6 min walk test (6 min WT). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square test, and two-way repeated-measures ANOVA were carried out to analyze the experimental data. In addition, nine machine learning models were utilized to predict the frailty status after the intervention. Results: In 10 m MWS and TUGT, there was a significant interactive influence between group and time. When comparing the BDJ group and the SE group, participants in the BDJSE group demonstrated the maximum gains in 10 m MWS and TUGT after 24 weeks of intervention. The stacking model surpassed other algorithms in performance. The accuracy and precision rates were 75.5% and 77.1%, respectively. Conclusion: The hybrid exercise program that combined Baduanjin with strength and endurance training proved more effective at improving fitness and reversing frailty in elderly individuals. Based on the stacking model, it is possible to predict whether an elderly person will exhibit reversed frailty following an exercise program.

Proposal and validation of a new approach in tele-rehabilitation with 3D human posture estimation: a randomized controlled trial in older individuals with sarcopenia

“…These findings indicate that Taichi exercise has a significant effect in improving physical functional capacity in older adults, with a positive impact on TUGT perfor- mance. A systematic review conducted by Wang [ 11 ] gathered a substantial amount of empirical evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise based on traditional Chinese medicine. The quantitative analysis revealed that the Taichi group demonstrated a reduction of 2.62 s in the TUGT compared to the control group.…”

“…Guidelines of the Asian Working Group for sarcopenia [ 3 ], the task force of the International Conference on sarcopenia and Frailty Research [ 4 ], and the Singapore Society for Geriatric Medicine [ 5 ] all strongly endorse exercise training as the first-line therapy for the management of sarcopenia. Exercise programs, in particular, represent a crucial component of rehabilitation and have been shown to have a favorable impact on sarcopenia [ 6 – 11 ], the implementation of Chinese traditional exercise resulted in a 27.8% reverse in sarcopenia [ 12 ]. Despite the known benefits, participation in and adherence to exercise training among older adults with chronic musculoskeletal conditions are even lower than among the general old population [ 13 , 14 ].…”