Benefits of a long-term care prevention class held by a recovery rehabilitation hospital for pre-elderly and elderly participants

Abstract

Introduction

Our recovery rehabilitation hospital holds a weekly 90-min long-term care prevention class to promote the health of neighborhood residents. This study examined the benefits of exercises performed in these classes for pre-elderly and elderly participants.

Subjects and Method

Subjects were 31 adults aged ≥65 years who attended the weekly 90-min long-term care prevention classes regularly for 3 months. Performance at the start (pre-intervention) and after 3 months (post-intervention) of attendance on several fitness tests was assessed: grip strength test, one-leg stand test, 30-second chair stand test (CS30), and timed up & go (TUG) test. Subjects were classified into two groups based on their age at enrollment: pre-elderly (<75 years), or elderly (≥75 years). Each metric was compared between and within groups using two-way repeated-measures ANOVA and simple main effects analysis (with Bonferroni correction).

Results

The pre-elderly and elderly groups consisted of 10 and 21 subjects, respectively. Grip strength at baseline was significantly different between the groups. For the right leg, one-leg standing time exhibited interaction effects over time. One-leg standing time was significantly longer post- than pre-intervention in the pre-elderly group. The CS30 performance of both groups was significantly different both pre- and post-intervention. Post-intervention, TUG time was significantly shorter in the pre-elderly than the elderly group. In addition, TUG time was significantly shorter after intervention than at baseline in the elderly group.

Discussion

Our findings suggest that the long-term care prevention class, with its emphasis on bodyweight exercises and five types of warm-up exercises, improved balance and mobility among pre-elderly and elderly participants.