Effects of a Community-Based Exercise Program on Older Adults' Physical Function, Activities of Daily Living, and Exercise Self-Efficacy: Feeling Fit Club.

Community-based exercise programs have demonstrated feasibility, yet many lack controlled studies examining their efficacy. This study examined the efficacy of a community-based exercise program, using a controlled design. Participants (N = 262, Mage = 74.0 years, SD = 8.4) were women (77%) and men recruited from senior centers served by the county Area Agency on Aging. Intervention participants (n = 133) were newly enrolled in classes. Controls (n = 129) were recruited from matched sites not offering classes. Validated measures of physical function, exercise self-efficacy, balance, and activities of daily living (ADL) confidence were administered at baseline and 3 months. Significant improvements in upper and lower body strength, aerobic endurance, mobility, exercise self-efficacy, and balance were found in the exercisers but not controls. No changes in ADL confidence occurred in exercisers, while significant decreases occurred in controls. Findings support the efficacy of the county-wide program. Building an evidence base for community-delivered programs should provide impetus for increased dissemination through state and national agencies thereby increasing program impact.

Increases in core temperature counterbalance effects of haemoconcentration on blood viscosity during prolonged exercise in the heat.

NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of exercise-induced haemoconcentration and hyperthermia on blood viscosity. What is the main finding and its importance? Exercise-induced haemoconcentration, increased plasma viscosity and increased blood aggregation, all of which increased blood viscosity, were counterbalanced by increased red blood cell (RBC) deformability (e.g. RBC membrane shear elastic modulus and elongation index) caused by the hyperthermia. Thus, blood viscosity remained unchanged following prolonged moderate-intensity exercise in the heat. Previous studies have reported that blood viscosity is significantly increased following exercise. However, these studies measured both pre- and postexercise blood viscosity at 37 °C even though core and blood temperatures would be expected to have increased during the exercise. Consequently, the effect of exercise-induced hyperthermia on mitigating change in blood viscosity may have been missed. The purpose of this study was to isolate the effects of exercise-induced haemoconcentration and hyperthermia and to determine their combined effects on blood viscosity. Nine subjects performed 2 h of moderate-intensity exercise in the heat (37 °C, 40% relative humidity), which resulted in significant increases from pre-exercise values for rectal temperature (from 37.11 ± 0.35 to 38.76 ± 0.13 °C), haemoconcentration (haematocrit increased from 43.6 ± 3.6 to 45.6 ± 3.5%) and dehydration (change in body weight = -3.6 ± 0.7%). Exercise-induced haemoconcentration significantly (P < 0.05) increased blood viscosity by 9% (from 3.97 to 4.33 cP at 300 s(-1)), whereas exercise-induced hyperthermia significantly decreased blood viscosity by 7% (from 3.97 to 3.69 cP at 300 s(-1)). When both factors were considered together, there was no overall change in blood viscosity (from 3.97 to 4.03 cP at 300 s(-1)). The effects of exercise-induced haemoconcentration, increased plasma viscosity and increased red blood cell aggregation, all of which increased blood viscosity, were counterbalanced by increased red blood cell deformability (e.g. red blood cell membrane shear elastic modulus and elongation index) caused by the hyperthermia. Thus, blood viscosity remained unchanged following prolonged moderate-intensity exercise in the heat.