Hybrid Exercise Program Enhances Physical Fitness and Reverses Frailty in Older Adults: Insights and Predictions from...

The declining physical condition of the older adults is a pressing issue. Wu Qin Xi exercise, despite being low-intensity, is highly effective among older adults. Inspired by its characteristics, we designed a new exercise program for frail older adults, combining strength, endurance, and Wu Qin Xi. Furthermore, we employed machine learning to predict whether frailty can be reversed in older adults after the intervention.

A total of 181 community-dwelling frail older adults aged 65 years or older participated in this single-center, randomized controlled study, with 54.7% (n=99) being female. The study assessed the effectiveness of several exercise modalities in reversing frailty. The Fried's frailty criterion was used to assess the degree of frailty of the subjects. Participants were assigned a three-digit code 001-163 and randomly assigned (1:1:1) by computer to three different groups based on the study participant number: the Wu Qin Xi group (WQX), the strength exercise mixed with endurance exercise training group (SE), and the WQXSE hybrid exercise group incorporated the above two. Body composition and frailty-related physical fitness factors were measured before and after a 24-week intervention. The measurements included Body height, Body mass, Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), grip strength assessment (GS), 6min walk test (6 min WT), and 10 m maximum walk speed (10 m MWS). Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA to determine group and time interaction effects and machine learning models were used to predict program effectiveness.

A total of 163 participants completed the study, with 53.9% (n=88) of them being female. The two items, 10 m maximum walking speed (10 m MWS) and grip strength, were significantly affected by the interaction of group and time. Compared to the other two groups, the WQXSE group showed the most improvement in the item 10 m MWS. In addition, following 24 weeks of training, 68 (41.7%) of the initially frail older adults had reversed their frailty status. Among them, 19 (36.5%) were in the WQX group, 24 (44.4%) were in the WQXSE group, and 25 (43.9%) were in the SE group. The stacking model exhibited superior performance when compared to other algorithms.

A hybrid exercise regimen comprising the Wu Qin Xi routine and exercises focused on both strength and endurance holds the potential to yield greater improvements in the physical fitness of older adults, as well as reducing frailty. Leveraging a stacking model, it is possible to forecast the likelihood of older adults successfully reversing their frailty status following participation in a prevention exercise program.