Community Capacity Building Exercise Maintenance Program for Frail Elderly Women

Abstract

"Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of community capacity building exercise maintenance program for frail elderly women. Methods: A quasiexperimental pretest-posttest design was used with nonequivalent control group. The experimental group (n ¼ 22) received community capacity building exercise maintenance program, whereas the control group (n ¼ 23) received health physical exercise program for 16 sessions over 8 weeks. The data of physical fitness, body compositions, self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life were collected three times for both group: before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 8 weeks after the intervention. Analyses were conducted using c2 test, t test, Fisher's exact test, and repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: Compared to the control group, muscular strength (p ¼ .002), static balance (p ¼ .013), muscular endurance (p ¼ .003), self-efficacy (p < .001), and health-related quality of life (p ¼ .030) were significantly improved in the experimental group. In addition, body fat percentage (p ¼ .005) in this group was significantly decreased after the community capacity building exercise maintenance program. Conclusion: Theses results indicated that a community capacity building exercise maintenance program is feasible, and associated with exercise maintenance among frail elderly women.