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Effects of 3 months of detraining on functional fitness and quality of life in older adults who regularly exercise

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Abstract

Background

Little is known about the effects of detraining in older adults, particularly those who regularly exercise.

Aims

To determine the consequences of 3 months of cessation of a habitual supervised exercise on functional fitness and quality of life in aged adults and to explore the associations among those parameters.

Methods

Thirty-eight women and 11 men (mean age 75.5 ± 5.7 years) took part in a physical exercise program for 9 months, followed by a 3-month detraining period. Participants completed physical function tests and questionnaires regarding the quality of life and leisure-time physical activity at the end of the exercise program (baseline) and 3 months later (detraining).

Results

After the detraining period, performance in the 8 Foot Up and Go test (p < 0.001) and the physical and mental components of the quality of life (p < 0.001) declined. Significant correlations were observed when comparing the 8 Foot Up and Go test (p < 0.05), Chair Stand test (p < 0.05), and the 6-min Walk test (p < 0.001) to the physical component of the quality of life after the detraining period.

Conclusion

Three months of a detraining period in older people who habitually undertake supervised activities is enough to produce a decline in dynamic balance and also quality of life. To avoid the deleterious effect of periods of cessation of supervised exercise, as a suggestion, specifically designed exercises could be prescribed for an older population, with emphasis on balance exercises.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Getxo Kirolak for their collaboration in this study, as well as to all the participants for their commitment to facilitating the research. The authors would also like to thank N. Izaguirre-Gallego and A. Perez-Gavilan for their assistance in the study.

Funding

The first author was supported by a Grant from the Basque Government [Pre_2014_1_137] and financial support to carry out this study was received from The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) (PPG17/34) and the Basque Government (IT922-16).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiotherapy, Department of Physiology. Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain

    Izaro Esain, Susana M. Gil, Iraia Bidaurrazaga-Letona & Ana Rodriguez-Larrad

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  1. Izaro Esain
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  2. Susana M. Gil
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Correspondence to Susana M. Gil.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Esain, I., Gil, S.M., Bidaurrazaga-Letona, I. et al. Effects of 3 months of detraining on functional fitness and quality of life in older adults who regularly exercise. Aging Clin Exp Res 31, 503–510 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0990-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0990-1

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