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Objectives: This study examined the effects of high-intensity resistance strength training and walking (E), individualized social activity (SA), and resistance training and walking combined with social activity (ESA) on everyday function in long-term care (LTC) residents and explored the relationship between change in everyday function and change in sleep., Design: The study used data from The Effect of Activities and Exercise on Sleep, a randomized controlled trial., Setting: Residential LTC facilities., Participants: A total of 119 participants who had measures of everyday function and sleep at baseline and postintervention., Interventions: The E group exercised 5 days a week. The SA group was involved in social activities 5 days a week. The ESA group received both E and SA interventions. The usual care (UC) control group participated in usual activities., Measurements: Everyday function was measured by the Nursing Home Physical Performance Test. Nighttime sleep was measured by attended polysomnography., Results: The UC and SA groups showed a decline in everyday function, whereas the E and ESA groups showed improvement. There were statistically significant differences between the groups, with pairwise comparisons showing significant improvements in the ESA group over the SA group (95% confidence interval, -3.94 to -0.97) and the UC group (95% confidence interval, -3.69 to -0.64). No relationship was found between change in everyday function and change in sleep., Conclusion: Seven weeks of high-intensity resistance strength training and walking, combined with individualized social activities (ESA), improved everyday function among LTC residents, independent of change in sleep.

Objectives: To compare the effects of physical resistance strength training and walking (E), individualized social activity (SA), and E and SA (ESA) with a usual care control group on total nocturnal sleep time in nursing home and assisted living residents., Design: Pretest-posttest experimental design with assignment to one of four groups for 7 weeks: E (n=55), SA (n=50), ESA (n=41), and usual care control (n=47)., Setting: Ten nursing homes and three assisted living facilities., Participants: One hundred ninety-three residents were randomly assigned; 165 completed the study., Intervention: The E group participated in high-intensity physical resistance strength training 3 days a week and on 2 days walked for up to 45 minutes, the SA group received social activity 1 hour daily 5 days a week, the ESA group received both E and SA, and the control group participated in usual activities provided in the homes., Measurement: Total nocturnal sleep time was measured using 2 nights of polysomnography before and 2 nights of polysomnography after the intervention. Sleep efficiency (SE), non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, rapid eye movement sleep, and sleep onset latency were also analyzed., Results: Total nocturnal sleep time was significantly greater in the ESA group than in the control group (adjusted means 364.2 minutes vs 328.9 minutes), as was SE and NREM sleep., Conclusion: High-intensity physical resistance strength training and walking combined with social activity significantly improved sleep in nursing home and assisted living residents. The interventions by themselves did not have significant effects on sleep in this population., (© 2011, Copyright the Authors. Journal compilation © 2011, The American Geriatrics Society.)