The impact of a physical activity intervention programme on frailty syndrome in elderly citizens in Maseru District, Lesotho

Introduction: The global elderly population is increasing at an unexpected rate, the majority of which will reside in developing nations. Geriatric diseases such as frailty syndrome are difficult to differentiate from normal ageing. Scientific research into geriatric diseases such as frailty syndrome and the potential impact of interventions, could enable governments (especially those in developing nations) to prepare adequate infrastructure. Objectives: The following objectives were investigated: cardiovascular fitness (6-minute walk test); upper body strength (arm curl- and handgrip test); lower body strength (chair stand test); flexibility (modified sit and reach test); balance, speed and agility (8-foot up and go test). Methods: Participant recruitment followed a cross-sectional quantitative design. A pre-test – post-test control group design was used to implement and evaluate whether the physical activity intervention (approximately 12 weeks) could improve frailty. Baseline testing was performed on 3 groups. Milk group [n=36 (milk intervention only)], both group [n=37 (milk and physical activity intervention)] and control group [n=35 (no intervention)]. A multicomponent physical activity programme was conducted 3 times a week, at low to moderate intensity, for 45 – 60 minutes. Descriptive statistics (namely, medians and percentiles for continuous data and frequencies and percentages for categorical data) were calculated per group. The change from baseline to post intervention, was also calculated per group. The groups were compared (inter-group) by means of 95% confidence intervals. Results: An inter-group comparison between the groups from baseline to post intervention (95% CI for percentage difference) revealed a statistically significant difference (p=≤0.05) in the lower body muscle strength of the ‘both’ group compared to the milk group and control group respectively. These results indicate that the physical activity intervention could have benefited the pa