Home-Based Frailty Prevention Program for Older Women Participants of Kayoi-No-Ba during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Feasibility Study.

This study presents a single-arm intervention that aimed to determine the feasibility of a three-month home-based exercise program to prevent the progression of frailty during COVID-19. We recruited four groups of Kayoi-no-ba, or community salons for frailty prevention, and a total of 69 community-dwelling older women who belonged to one of the Kayoi-no-ba in a preliminary study for a follow-up study. The intervention program was developed on the basis of the 5A approach, and the focus group by the volunteer leaders of Kayoi-no-ba. We adapted the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology Home Exercise Program for Older People for 10-min daily home-based exercise. For feasibility outcomes, 91.3% of the participants completed the intervention program, whereas the percentage of exercise performed was 86.5% during the intervention period. For health-related outcomes, the five times sit-to-stand test exhibited significant improvement after the intervention. The results of feasibility outcomes indicate that the program may be feasible due to the high rates of completion and exercise performed. Additionally, improvement was noted for the health indicators of the five times sit-to-stand test, which may help prevent frailty. The feasibility trial has provided the necessary data to design a future-cluster randomized controlled trial.

Comparison of frailty associated factors between older adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis and community dwellers.

PURPOSE: To determine whether frailty associated factors differ between community dwellers and older adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We used the cross-sectional data for patients with RA from the RA epidemiological quality-of-life study (n = 210, mean age 71.8 ± 3.7 years) and community dwellers from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (n = 53,255, mean age 71.7 ± 4.0 years). Frailty status was assessed using the Kihon Checklist (KCL), and the primary outcome was frailty (KCL score ≥8 points). Information on predictor variables, including age, sex, marital status, educational level, body mass index (BMI), drinking and smoking status and social participation were obtained from a standardized questionnaire. We employed Poisson regression to calculate the prevalence ratio (PR) of frailty according to its predictors. RESULTS: We found frailty in 37.6% of the patients with RA and 15.7% of the community dwellers. In the multivariate models, BMI and social participation were independently associated with frailty in patients with RA (BMI <18.5: PR, 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-2.41. BMI ≥25.0: PR, 1.81; 95% CI 1.20-2.71. Active social participation: PR, 0.61; 95% CI 0.42-0.87) and community dwellers (BMI <18.5: PR, 1.77; 95% CI 1.67-1.88. BMI ≥25.0: PR, 1.27; 95% CI 1.22-1.33. Active social participation: PR, 0.46; 95% CI 0.44-0.48). All other predictors were significantly associated with frailty in the community dwellers. CONCLUSION: Maintaining appropriate body weight and participating in social activities are important for preventing frailty in patients with RA as well as community dwellers.