Exercise for Reversing Prefrailty to Robustness in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Exercise Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Prefrailty is a transitional state between optimal health and frailty in older adults.
• Identifying effective interventions to reverse prefrailty is crucial for maintaining independence and quality of life in aging populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the efficacy of exercise interventions in reversing prefrailty among older adults (≥60 years).

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from 6 international databases.
• Quality appraisal using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool.
• Data extraction on postintervention frailty status to calculate odds ratios for improvement; Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) used for evidence certainty.

Main Results:

• Professionally supervised exercise is safe and well-accepted for prefrail older adults.
• Observed positive effects on reversing prefrailty were primarily supported by low-certainty evidence.
• More rigorous evidence showed nonfavorable results, especially for sustained benefits.

Conclusions:

• The immediate and sustained effects of exercise on reversing prefrailty remain uncertain due to inconsistent findings and limited evidence certainty.
• Professionally supervised exercise is safe but should be used cautiously as a standalone strategy for reversing prefrailty.
• Future high-quality RCTs with rigorous methodologies are recommended to provide clearer scientific guidance.