Abstract
Objectives: To test whether structured physical activity (PA) is associated with a greater reduction in major mobility disability (MMD) in older persons with metabolic syndrome (MetS) than in those without. Design: Data from the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) Study, a multicenter randomized trial of 1,635 persons with assessments every 6 months (average 2.7 years). Setting: Eight U.S. centers. Participants: Sedentary men and women aged 70 to 89 with functional limitations (N = 1,535); 100 participants were excluded because of missing MetS data. Intervention: Participants were randomized to a moderate-intensity PA program (n = 766) or a health education program (n = 769). Measurements: MetS was defined according to the 2009 multiagency harmonized criteria. Outcomes included incident MMD (loss of ability to walk 400 m) and persistent MMD (two consecutive MMD diagnoses or one MMD diagnosis followed by death). Results: Seven hundred sixty-three (49.7%) participants met criteria for MetS. PA reduced incident MMD more than health education did in participants with MetS (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.57–0.91, P =.007) but not in those without MetS (HR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.73–1.25, P =.75); the test for statistical interaction was not significant (P =.13). PA reduced the risk of persistent MMD in participants with MetS (HR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.41–0.79, P <.001) but not in those without MetS (HR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.67–1.41, P =.87). The test for statistical interaction was significant (P =.04). Conclusion: Moderate-intensity PA substantially reduces the risk of persistent MMD in older persons with functional limitations with MetS but not in those without MetS. Comparable results were observed for incident MMD. The LIFE PA program may be an effective strategy for reducing mobility disability in vulnerable older persons with MetS.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1244-1250 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2017 |
Funding
Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01072500. Financial Disclosure: The LIFE Study was funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Aging (NIA) Cooperative Agreement U01AG22376 and a supplement from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (U01AG022376). It was sponsored in part by the Intramural Research Program, NIA, NIH. Complete acknowledgments and funding information are shown in Appendix S1 and are available at: https://www.thelifestudy.org/secure/documents. Dr. Botoseneanu was funded by Grants AG024824 from the University of Michigan Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, UL1TR000433 from the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, and T32AG019134 from the NIA. Dr. Gill is the recipient of Academic Leadership Award K07AG043587 from the NIA and is supported by the Yale Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (P30AG21342). Conflict of Interest: The authors are not aware of any potential conflict of interest. Author Contributions: Botoseneanu, Gill: Concept and design. Chen, Ambrosius: Statistical analyses. Botoseneanu, Gill, Chen, Ambrosius, Allore: Interpretation of results. Botoseneanu, Chen, Gill: Drafting the manuscript. Gill, King: Acquisition of data. Botoseneanu, Gill, Chen, Ambrosius, Allore, Anton, Folta, King, Nicklas, Spring, Strotmeyer: Critical review and revision of manuscript. All authors have approved the submitted version for publication. Haiying Chen and Walter A. Ambrosius had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Sponsor's Role: None.
Keywords
- Intervention trial
- Metabolic syndrome
- Mobility disability
- Physical activity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geriatrics and Gerontology