Physical and psychological condition of senior people in a residential care facility. The effects of an aerobic training

doi:10.4236/health.2010.27117

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Vol.2, No.7, 773-780 (2010)

doi:10.4236/health.2010.27117

Health

Physical and psychological condition of senior people

in a residential care facility. The effects of an aerobic

training

Emanuela Rabaglietti1*, Liubicich Monica Emma2, Ciairano Silvia1

1Department of Psychology, Laboratory of Developmental Psychology, University of TorinoVia Verdi 10, Turin, Italy;

*Corresponding Author: emanuela.rabaglietti@unito.it

2SUISM–Scuola Universitaria Interfacoltà di Scienze Motorie, Centro Ricerche in Scienze Motorie e Sportive, University of Turin,

Turin, Italy

Received 31 December 2009; revised 18 January 2010; accepted 20 January 2009.

ABSTRACT

The present study is aimed at investigating the

changes between pre-test and post-test, after

having introduced an aerobic programme of

physical activity (one session, each of 45’ per

week for 15 weeks, over a span of roughly four

months, delivered by specially trained instruc-

tor), in the psychological situation (perception

of general health, feelings of geriatric depres-

sion) and physical condition (activities of daily

living, physical performance in term s of balance

and gait, weight, and body mass index–BMI) of a

group of senior citizens slightly compromised

at Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE: me-

dian 23) and living in a residential care facility in

northern Italy. The 36-Item Short Form Health

Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), the Geriatric De-

pression Scale (GDS), the Italian short version

of Barthel's Index of Activities of Daily Living

(BADL), the Tinetti Assessment Tool were ad-

ministered to 18 old men and women (median

age 85.50 years). The findings (we used non-

parametric statistical techniques) showed that:

1) general health perception, feelings of de-

pression, and activities of daily were stable; 2)

general physical performance, and particularly

the balance, increased between pre-test and

post-test, while weight, BMI and waist circum-

ference decreased. These results underline the

importance, especially in the case of women, of

participating at an aerobic training delivered by

experienced instructors for the physical condi-

tion of senior citizens, also when they are slightly

cognitively compromised.

Keywords: Senior People; Training;

Physical and Psychological Condition

1. INTRODUCTION

The participation at training of physical activity in very

old people living in residential care facilities may have

some effects in terms of the potential positive conse-

quences for the general physical and psychological con-

ditions. On its turn some improvement in the general

physical and psychological conditions may enhance the

global quality of life and may contribute to the mainte-

nance of cognitive and physical skills and autonomy.

At increasing age we usually observe a progressive

decreasing of physical skills [1], which is related to

physiological changes [2]. However, at the same age we

found great individual differences in the amount of daily

living autonomy [3]. Furthermore, at very old ages, the

biological potential of the individuals is even further

weakened, leading to different forms of frailties [4,5],

which contribute to make older people much vulnerable

and less apt at mastering the tasks of daily living.

Among the senior people, frailty is a heterogeneous

syndrome that includes aspects related to physical func-

tioning, such as walking, balance and strength, metabolic

aspects as the body max index, and psychological and

cognitive aspects [6,7]. Some recent studies underlined

that in elderly people there is a relationship between

decreasing of physical abilities and both cognitive de-

cline [8] and modification of the body mass index [9].

More specifically, a increase of the body mass index was

found positively related to the development of physical

disabilities, especially among women, while the mainte-

nance of a correct body weight was related with high

levels of physical functioning, and consequently with a

great autonomy in mastering the tasks of daily living [10].

The study by Bohannon and colleagues [11] underlined,

E. Rabaglietti et al. / HEALTH 2 (2010) 773-780

774

in a sample of older women aged 74.9 years and living

in residential care facilities, a strong relationship be-

tween increase in the body mass index and decrease of

the physical ability linked to walking. The decrease of

such abilities, which is expressed by deficit in strength,

resistance and balance, is determinant for the loss of

autonomy, leading the older people to dependence in

facing the basic activities of daily living [12,13].

Generally speaking, the condition of frailty, particu-

larly in senior citizens who are institutionalized for long

period, is often associated to episodes of fall that repre-

sent a risk factor not only for the physical disability but

also for the potential negative psychological conse-

quences [14,15]. In fact, the loss of self confidence and

the fear of falling may accelerate the functional decline

and may induce depression [16] and/or isolation, par-

ticularly among women and the most old people [17-20].

Besides, the elderly people who repeatedly fall are not

only at risk of death, they tend to develop more rapidly

than their mates deficits in the skills of successfully

mastering basic daily living activities [21].

The benefits of a regular physical activity for the psy-

chological and physical condition of senior citizens have

been already widely acknowledged. Among the others,

the meta-analysis by McCauley [22] showed that about

69% of researches published in this field found a posi-

tive association between physical activity and the psy-

chological wellbeing of the elderly people. This positive

association was confirmed by the meta-analysis by

Kramer et al. [1] that paid attention particularly at the

positive effects of aerobic training on the cognitive func-

tioning of the senior people. Also the more recent study

by Wang and colleagues [9] showed that a increase in

physical activity is associated with a decrease in the risk

of onset of dementia. Furthermore, some studies on

population [3], showed that the association between

physical activity and health is especially strong in

women and most old groups of people. In general,

physical activity contributes to the wellbeing of the per-

son fulfilling a preventive action against the onset of

different pathologies, and among these pathologies es-

pecially physical disability [23].

According to the indications of the American College

of Sports Medicine [24], the programs of physical activ-

ity addressed at the elderly people in the residential care

facilities are aimed at preserving the abilities of daily

living, which are necessary for conserving a certain in-

dependence as long as possible, at delaying the onset of

chronic pathologies and at promoting the wellbeing of

the older people, by offering opportunities of social in-

teractions. Different typologies of exercises were showed

able to improving the physical abilities and the quality of

life of the senior citizens [25]. Among these exercises

particularly effective seem those that require a multilat-

eral approach at physical activity, by proposing specific

exercises for joint mobility, balance, strength and resis-

tance, and respecting the individual level of ability.

Despite the relevance of investigating these issues in

different samples, the great majority of the studies con-

centrated on senior citizens aged from 65 and 75 years

[14,22]. Given the increasing life expectancy in all the

western society [26] we think that it is relevant to start to

investigate much older samples.

The present longitudinal study represent the continua-

tion of some previous researches [27-29] that demon-

strated the positive effect of an aerobic programme of

physical activity in an Italian sample of senior citizens in

residential care facilities on positive self-perception and

the perception that health limits physical activities.

In the present study we further extended our interest

focusing on a very old group of people and investigating

also measures of physical wellbeing and performance.

Specifically, we looked at a group of elderly people, who

lived in a residential care facility and who were shown

slightly impaired at the Mini Mental State Examination

(MMSE), to describe the changes between pre-test and

post-test in relation to the participation at an aerobic

programme of physical activity, on psychological as-

pects (such as general health perception and feelings of

depression), abilities of daily living, and physical aspects

(in terms of balance and gait, weight, body mass index-

BMI-and waist circumference).

In relation to the phase of development of very old

ages, we have to acknowledge that it is usually charac-

terized by a general slowness of the processes of change,

particularly with respect to the self evaluation of physi-

cal and psychological condition that may need some

time for being appreciated [30]. Besides, also a slight

cognitive impairment, as that showed by our participants,

may even further slow the appreciation of eventual

changes in self-perception because of crystallization of

the previous self-evaluation. Thus, we expected that at

very old ages the participation at training of aerobic

physical activity contributes to modify more the aspects

connected to the physical condition, than the psycho-

logical dimension such as general health perception,

depressive feelings and basic activities of daily living.

Besides, we have to consider that very old people living

in residential care facilities may have a rather unfavor-

able balance in terms of resources and/or ties they can

count on: they are all institutionalized from long time

and therefore they may have lost much of the resources

on which usually people count on, as the small daily

habits of living independently at home and the daily re-

lationships with the external context.

E. Rabaglietti et al. / HEALTH 2 (2010) 773-780

775

2. METHODS

2.1. Study Design

The intervention was introduced in a residential care

facility in northern Italy. It is a private structure but

linked to the public health service with a funding agree-

ment. This facility houses both self-sufficient (that is,

they can still walk, eat and go in the bathroom by them-

selves) and dependent (requiring assistance with essen-

tial activities of daily living) senior citizens; it also pro-

vides the self-sufficient guests a daily physiotherapy

session.

2.2. Description of the Intervention

The intervention consisted of one session (lasting 45’

each) per week for 15 weeks, over a span of roughly four

months. The intervention was addressed to a group of

self-sufficient elderly people living in a residential care

facility. The sessions were conducted by one instructor,

she had university degree in physical education and

sport-related fields and was specialised in physical fit-

ness training for older people [28].

The aerobic programme aimed to achieve five main

goals:

1) to improve respiratory function through deep breat-

hing techniques;

2) to promote the awareness of incorrect or compen-

sative posture and to learn to modify these problems on

their own;

3) to execute movements addressed to the various

joints, trying to reach the maximum possible exertion,

without exceeding personal limitations;

4) to reach a correct perception of one’s body in vari-

ous conditions of static and dynamic equilibrium;

5) to strength interpersonal relationships and redis-

cover the joys of playing and using abilities that may

have been perceived as lost, by exercising in pairs or

small groups.

The intervention was tailored to engage gradually and

to interest the elderly people in a variety of different

kinds of activities, by using both conventional and un-

conventional instruments (such as stools, sticks, clubs,

hoops, balloons, foam balls, towels, paper cups, pins,

bowls, paper tissues, scarves, and trays) and by stressing

playful qualities. Besides, the instructor was daily in-

formed by the other personnel about the condition of

each older person, also in terms of minor physical prob-

lems, and they avoided asking for potentially dangerous

movements. Furthermore, special care was taken to pro-

vide older people with plenty of time to execute each

movement, avoiding activities that could have been per-

ceived as too intense, embarrassing, or difficult.

2.3. The Participants

The selection of the senior citizens was conducted by the

director of the residential care facility, who is a trained

physician, from among all the elderly people living in

the facility. The two criteria for inclusion were: 1) self-

sufficiency (defined as above), and 2) absence of serious

chronic and/or acute diseases, which was verified di-

rectly by the researchers. The Mini Mental Test Exami-

nation (MMSE) was used to evaluate cognitive capacity

[7]: the participants were assessed slightly cognitively

impaired since the median score was 23 and the range

scored between 18 and 24.

The participants were informed that participation in

the study was voluntary and confidential. All the se-

lected senior people agreed to participate and gave in-

formed consent, in accordance with Italian law and the

Association of Italian Psychologists’ ethical code [31].

The group of participants comprised 18 senior people,

of whom 6 (33%) were men and 12 (67%) women. The

median age was 85.50 years (Mean = 85.86, SD = 5.64;

range 74-96). All the participants lived in the residential

care facility permanently. All except one, who was born

in the centre of Italy, were from the same region where

the facility is located. With regard to marriage status the

majority (N = 11, 60%) were widows, the 28% (N = 5)

were married and the others had never been married (N =

1), or were divorced (N = 1). In terms of education, two

levels were considered: ‘low’, corresponding to com-

pulsory education (primary and secondary school) and

‘high’, corresponding to additional non-compulsory

education (including high school and university). The

average level of education for both men and women in

the sample was similar at the national statistics of popu-

lation for age-matched [19,32]. Among participants,

67% percent (N = 12) had received compulsory educa-

tion compared to about 70 percent in the national popu-

lation. Former occupations were dichotomised in manual

(N = 12, 67%) and non-manual labour (N = 6, 33%).

This ratio closely reflects the national population. The

majority (N = 12, 67%) had never participated in organ-

ised exercise or sport activities. Of those who had, the

preferred sports were bowls, gymnastic, soccer, and wa-

lking.

The administration of the whole set of instruments at

the pre-test and post-test was very long (about 3-4 hours

for participant including both psychological and physical

measures). Thus, we did not succeed in collecting the

complete information in 6 participants (1 man and 5

women) with respect to the physical measures and in 1

women with respect to the questionnaires because these

elderly people cannot participate at all the administration

sessions during the weeks planned for pre-test and/or

post-test for different reasons, mainly because of suffer-

E. Rabaglietti et al. / HEALTH 2 (2010) 773-780

776

ing slight indispositions and/or having became acute

again of small affliction. However, we did not find any

difference between this subgroup of participants with not

complete information and their mates nor with respect to

the socio-demographic information, neither with respect

to the study variables that we were able to collect.

2.4. Procedure

From the Italian version of the 36-Item Short Form

Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36; [33,34]), in the

present study we used only the question that investigates

the general perception of health (Range of possible an-

swers: 1 bad-5 excellent).

Besides the senior citizens were administered the Ital-

ian short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS;

[15,35]). This questionnaire consists of 15 items refer-

ring to seven common characteristics of depression in

older life: somatic concern, lowered affect, cognitive

impairment, feelings of discrimination, impaired motiva-

tion, lack of future orientation and of self-esteem. Each

question has dichotomous answers: 0 no, 1 yes (presence

of a characteristic in the area of depression) for a possi-

ble range 0-15. For total scores between 0 and 5 the level

of depression is usually considered normal, while total

scores higher than 5 express different levels of depres-

sion. Among our participants, the Cronbach’s alpha was

good at both waves (pre-test = 0.70, post-test = 0.90).

We also used the Italian short version of Index of Ba-

sic Activities of Daily Living (BADL; [23,36]). This

questionnaire is a well-validated measure of functional

outcomes and it includes self-evaluation of independ-

ence and/or need of some help in mobility and self-care

abilities in 6 areas such as feeding, bathing, dressing,

walking, and bowel and bladder control. Each question

has dichotomous answers: 0 by oneself, no help, 1 with

help for a possible range 0-6. The Cronbach’s alpha was

very good at both waves (pre-test = 0.80, post-test = 0.88).

We also administered the Tinetti Assessment Tool [37]

for evaluating gait and balance in older people. This test

is a task performance exam, which quantifies the motor

performance and identifies the subjects at risk of falling

by two scales: the Tinetti Balance Scale o BPOMA,

which assesses the characteristics of sitting station, pos-

tural passages, and erect station, and the Tinetti Gait

Scale o GPOMA, which assesses the characteristics of

walking.

Finally, all the participants were weighed at pre-test

and post-test and we calculated BMI by the way of an

electronic balance.

All these measures were collected by specially trained

researchers.

2.5. Strategy of Analysis

We used Wilcoxon test for dependent samples for ana-

lyzing the presence of differences between pre-test and

post-test for the whole set of measures and for the whole

group of participants (Table 1).

Besides, we used Wilcoxon test for dependent sample

for analyzing the presence of differences between pre-test

and post-test separately in the sub-groups of men and

women (data reported directly in the text). For evaluat-

ing the effectiveness of the intervention we calculated

the width of a not parametric effect size, which is more

appropriate with very little samples than other kinds of

measures [38]. We also used Mann-Whitney test for in-

dependent samples for analyzing the presence of differ-

ences between men and women separately in each time

(Table 2).

Finally, in all the cases we describe our data using

both median, which may be more adequate than other

descriptive measures in very little sample, and mean and

standard deviation.

3. RESULTS

As we hypothesised we did not find any significant

changes between pre-test and post-test with respect to

psychological aspects, such as general health perception,

depression, and activities of daily living as they were

perceived by the older people (Ta b le 1 ). However, gen-

eral health perception showed some tendency to increase

between pre-test and post-test.

With respect to the physical performance as it is meas-

ured by Tinetti test, we found a relevant increase of the

balance between pre-test and post-test, while the gait

was stable.

In all the above mentioned aspects such as psycho-

logical characteristics and physical performance, we did

not find any statistical differences between men and

women in both waves (these data are available at the

first author). However, the effect of the intervention on

the balance (measured by the Tinetti Balance Scale) was

greater for women than for men. For women: Pre-test:

median = 10.0, M = 10.43, D.S. = 3.10; Post-test: me-

dian = 13.00, M = 13.43, D.S. = 2.57; Z = –2.375, p <

0.02, ES = 0.63. For men: Pre-test: median = 10.0, M =

10.40, D.S. = 1.67; Post-test: median = 12.00, M = 9.40,

D.S. = 5.18; Z = –0.137, p = 0.89, ES = 0.04.

In relation to the physical condition we found signifi-

cant and positive changes between pre-test and post-test

for every aspect considered in the study: in general, par-

ticipants decreased their weight, BMI and also waist

circumference (Table 1).

With respect to the physical condition, as it was rea-

sonable to expect, we also found in each wave separately

significant gender differences (Ta b le 2): women in gen-

eral weighted less and they ad lower BMI and waist h

E. Rabaglietti et al. / HEALTH 2 (2010) 773-780

777

Ta bl e 1. Wilcoxon test for dependent samples on psychological and physical indicators of adjustment―difference between pre and

post-test.

Median Means (St. dev.)

Variable Z N Sig.1 Effect size

(ES) Pre-test Post-test Pre-test Post-test

General Health Perception –1.134 18 0.26 0.19 2 2 2.10 (0.64) 2.35 (0.61)

GDS –0.114 18 0.91 0.02 3 4 4.65 (3.72) 5.12 (4.49)

BADL –0.287 18 0.77 0.05 5 6 4.47 (1.84) 4.59 (2.03)

Tinetti Balance –1.663 12 0.09 0.34 11 12.50 10.42 (2.50) 11.75 (4.20)

Tinetti Gait –1.000 12 0.32 0.20 6.50 6.50 5.92 (3.09) 5.83 (3.21)

Weight –2.001 12 0.04 0.41 66.30 61.60 65.28 (12.61) 63.79 (12.83)

BMI –2.353 12 0.02 0.50 24.21 23.40 24.50 (3.09) 23.93 (3.25)

Waist circumference –2.689 12 0.007 0.57 94.50 93.50 93.75 (14.09) 91.75 (14.02)

1We considered till p < 0.10 because of the very little sample size.

Tabl e 2. Mann-Whitney test for independent samples on psychological and physical indicators of adjustment―significant gender

differences.

Men Women

Variable U N Sig. 2

Median Means (St. dev.) Median Means (St. dev.)

Weight pre-test 3.00 12 0.02 76.30 74.96 (9.51) 54.60 58.37 (9.87)

Weight post-test 3.00 12 0.02 76.10 73.94 (9.37) 54.70 56.54 (9.80)

BMI pre-test 6.50 12 0.07 26.87 26.55 (2.65) 23.32 23.04 (2.61)

BMI post-test 3.00 12 0.02 25.90 26.18 (2.47) 22.60 22.31 (2.83)

Waist circumference pre –2.353 12 0.02 103.00 105.00 (7.75) 90.00 85.71 (11.97)

Waist circumference post –2.689 12 0.007 103.00 103.4 (7.67) 86.00 83.43 (11.28)

2We considered till p < 0.10 because of the very little sample size.

circumference than men. Furthermore, the effect of the

intervention on two out of three aspects of the physical

condition considered in the present study (weight and

BMI) was greater for women than for men. For weight:

Women Z = –1.690, p < 0.09, ES = 0.45; Men Z = –1.084,

p = 0.28, ES = 0.34. For BMI: Women Z = –2.028, p <

0.04, ES = 0.54; Men Z = –1.214, p = 0.283, ES = 0.38.

However the effect of the intervention was similar in

women and men with respect to waist circumference.

For Waist circumference: Women Z = –2.060, p < 0.04,

ES = 0.55; Men Z = –1.857, p < 0.06, ES = 0.59.

Generally speaking the intervention was showed to

have medium-large effect size with respect to the physi-

cal performance and condition.

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This study was aimed at investigating the effect of the

participation at an aerobic physical training in senior

citizens who were slightly cognitively impaired and who

lived in a residential care facility. More specifically the

study was aimed at investigating the changes between

pre-test and post-test with respect to psychological and

self-report characteristics, as the perception of health in

general, depression and abilities of daily living, physical

performance, in terms of balance and gait, and the

physical condition, in terms of weight, BMI and waist

circumference.

As expected we did not find any change in general

health perception and depressive feelings. We also did

not find any change in the perception of abilities of daily

living in the elderly people. For certain aspects these

findings seemed to confirm what we have already under-

lined in a previous study [29]. In this previous study we

found that to change the general health perception and

the negative self perception of senior people living in

E. Rabaglietti et al. / HEALTH 2 (2010) 773-780

778

residential care facilities is much more difficult than to

change other aspects, as the positive self perception and

the perception that health may limit physical activity.

However, we need also to reflect on the specific charac-

teristics of the participants at the present study. At first,

the participants at the present study already suffered for

some limitations at their autonomy from the beginning:

three of them used some aids. Considering this condition,

the fact that they did not get worse along time may be

considered a success of the intervention. However, we

lack a comparable control group in order to be able to

claim this phenomenon as a positive effect of the par-

ticipation at the training of physical activity. At second,

contrarily to what was shown in some previous studies

about the positive effect of physical activity on depres-

sion in senior citizens [39], we found that depression

was stable between pre-test and post-test and it was even

slightly higher at the post-test than at the pre-test. We

certainly need to further investigate this important point.

However, we also have to consider that the age of the

participants at the present study is much higher than the

ages of the participants at the above mentioned studies.

We found greater evidence of the effectiveness of the

intervention on the physical performance and the physi-

cal condition than on the psychological and self report

aspects. At first we found a relevant improvement of the

physical performance in terms of balance. This finding

confirmed the study by Harada and collegues [6] on the

possibility of improving the physical functioning of in-

stitutionalized elderly people by the way of specific

training programs. With respect to the fact that the in-

tervention seemed more effective in changing the bal-

ance rather than the gait of the senior people, our find-

ings suggested that the balance might be easier to change

in short period, while long period may be necessary for

changing the gait aspects. At second we found that the

intervention was very powerful in ameliorating the

physical condition of the senior citizens, contributing at

decreasing their weight, BMI, and waist circumference.

This finding extended the results of a series of previous

studies [8,29,39,40], which underlined different potential

benefits of the participation at physical training for the

elderly people, in a very old group of participants with

slight cognitive impairment. We think that this finding is

very comforting, because it showed that a moderate but

structured and regular physical training (that lasted for

15 weeks only) may promote a decrease in the body

weight, and consequently in the BMI, contributing to a

great improvement of the functional condition of senior

citizens who are living a condition of general frailty.

That is a condition, as it is meant by Fried and Walston

[41-43], that may put these senior people at great risk of

general disability and co morbidity. At third, we found

the participation at the training of physical activity was

particularly effective in the case of women. This also is a

relevant finding considering that the life expectancy of

women is currently increasing much more than that of

men [26].

This study has several limitations and among the most

important there are the little sample size and the lack of

an equivalent control group. These limitations do not

allow us to generalize our findings to different situations

and populations. Furthermore, although we are aware

that the objective clinical parameters as bloody pressure

and biochemical texts may be very difficult to change in

short periods in senior citizens and also that some pre-

vious studies doubted that these clinical parameters may

be assumed as efficient predictors of the general health

condition of the older people [14], yet we have to admit

the lack of these measures in our study.

Despite these and other limitations, our study gives

some interesting cues. At first it showed the benefits of

the participation at a training of physical activity for

institutionalized senior citizens. This represents both a

confirmation and an extension of what we already

showed in some previous studies that focused only on

self-report measures [28,29]. At second it underlined that

also in critical condition, as that of the elderly people

living in residential care facility and slightly cognitively

impaired, the introduction of a relatively simple training

may have positive effects on the individual functioning

in short time.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The third author wants to acknowledge the contribution of Regione

Piemonte, Direzione Sanità-Settore Igiene e Sanità Pubblica at this

study.

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