Two New Studies Published in the November Journal of American Geriatrics Society Cite Benefits of Walking for Seniors

According to a press release on Newswise.com, UCLA Healthcare has completed a study testing the benefit of increased activity for adults sixty-five and older. The Study is published in the November Journal of the American Geriatric Society under the title, Pilot Test of an Attribution Retraining Intervention to Raise Walking Levels in Sedentary Older Adults. The study was done on forty-six adults in that age group who participated in the study through three senior centers in the greater Los Angeles area. The seniors participating in the study had not been accustomed to physical exercise.

The testing incorporated an "attribution retraining" curriculum, which was designed to re-train their thinking about the normal progression of age and its effects on the body. According to the news release, participants were typical of most of society in thinking that normal aging means that one naturally becomes sedentary. The curriculum reinforced that inactivity did not have to be a normal result of aging and that their habit of inactivity can be changed to a more active lifestyle with positive outcomes. This part of the re-training was done in four weekly one-hour sessions and was followed by four one-hour exercise classes that focused on strength, endurance and flexibility. The seniors were also required to wear a pedometer and in a seven-week period they increased their steps from an average of 24,749 to 30,707 per week. This increase is equivalent to 2.5 miles per week. Surveys at the beginning of the study showed that the seniors had low expectations as to what they could expect in terms of physical and mental abilities as they aged.

The results of the study showed that the seniors not only reported less pain and better mobility, but that their mental outlook about quality of life had also changed.
The scores reflected a 30% positive difference between the before and after expectations regarding the quality of life they could expect.

Dr. Catherine Karkisian, assistant professor of geriatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is the main author of the study. She states, "We can teach older adults to get rid of those old beliefs that becoming sedentary is just a normal part of growing old. We can teach them that they can and should remain physically active at all ages".

Results of another related study are also published in the November Journal of the American Geriatric Society. This study was done by the University of Pittsburgh. Lead author for this study was Susan E. Hardy, MD, PhD from the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. The study is entitled: Improvement in Usual Gait Speed Predicts Better Survival in Older Adults.

The study was completed through the Medicare health maintenance organization and the Veterans Affairs primary care programs. Seniors sixty-five and older also were the subjects of this study.

The study's objectives were to use six measurements of health and function and re-evaluate both the improvements after one year and the overall impact on survival after eight years. The six measurements were: gait speed, a short physical performance battery, physical function as measured by a Medical Outcomes Study, EuroQol (a European quality of life scale), a National Health Interview (an activity of daily living scale) and a global health change (improving at least two levels as defined in the study). At the one-year time period, patients were reassessed using a designation of either improved, transiently improved, or never improved. Mortality figures for the eight-year reassessment were taken from the National Death Index. For the purposes of the study, demographics, cognitive function, hospitalization and any other disease the patient might have were allowed for.

The results that are published state that of the six measurements, only the improved gait speed was associated with survival rates after the eight-year reassessment. The author of the study concludes, "Improvement in usual gait speed predicts a substantial reduction in mortality. Further research is needed to determine whether intervention to improve gait speed affect survival".
Sources Used:
www.newswise.com/articles/view/535434/
www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01427.x
www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01413.x