Exercise Helps Even Frail Elderly Regain Mobility

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Even 94-year-old shut-ins can benefit from exercise, according to the preliminary results of a study by a researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

In the first phase of the study, a group of 10 mobility-impaired elderly subjects nearly doubled the distance they could walk as well as their gait speed during a 12-week period. "We couldn't believe the improvement ourselves," said Elizabeth Protas, Ph.D., study director and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy in the UTMB School of Allied Health Sciences. "In only three months their walking improved up to normal speeds and endurance for people their age."

Subjects in the UTMB Strong Elders Project Pilot ranged in age from 70 to 94. All were screened for frailty prior to the start of the study. Protas defined "frail" as those who have walking problems. "They're losing so much function that they might have to go into residential care," she said.

Exercise sessions occurred three times per week for three months. Each session lasted an average of 75 minutes. During the sessions, participants used treadmills equipped with a safety device called a "treadabout." Other exercises included stair-steps, knee bends, stand-ups, and hip and knee extensions.

Working with the muscle metabolism group at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Galveston Burns Hospital, 10 subjects who were not walking-impaired were given essential amino acid supplements to help build muscle mass but did not participate in the exercises. "We think for people who are very frail, one of the problems is that they just don't have enough muscle mass to get stronger," Protas said. The researchers think that the supplements will help build the muscle tissue and then the strengthening will be more effective.

Protas is seeking funding for a second phase involving several hundred subjects. The second phase will also help determine whether this type of exercise would be useful in the general population of elders. Protas notes that some of the study volunteers enrolled on their own, while the middle-aged children of others urged their parents to participate. "They saw this and said, 'You know, mom, I really think you should do this' and got them enrolled in the study," Protas said. "This is how we got the 94-year-old in. Her daughter said she wasn't even leaving the house. After a couple of weeks in the program, she started taking strolls outside the house and was again going out."

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