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Improving health related quality of life and independence in community dwelling frail older adults through a client-centred and activity-oriented program. A pragmatic randomized controlled trial

  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Introduction and aim

In the ageing society, a considerable part of the older adults are frail. Frailty has a major impact on the individual’s quality of life, independence and also on his environment. This study aimed to investigate–as a secondary prevention of disability - the effectiveness of a client-centred and activity-oriented intervention program for frail community living older adults. It was hypothesized that this program could be effective in improving basic Activities of Daily Living (b-ADL) and increasing Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL).

Method

This study was a single blind randomized controlled trial with an intervention and a control group (pre-test-post-test control group design). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the outcome across groups with post-test as outcome and baseline values as a covariate. Data were analysed using the intention-to-treat principle.

Results

The intervention group (n = 86) experienced more improvement on b-ADL and HRQoL compared with the control group (n = 82). These effects were statistically significant for the b-ADL index (p = 0.013) and the ‘physical subscale pain’ (p = 0.049).

Discussion and conclusion

These positive results can be seen as promising for further development of intervention strategies, although follow-up study should be conducted to determine long term effectiveness.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Therapy, University College Artevelde, Ghent, Belgium

    Patricia De Vriendt & D. Van De Velde

  2. Frailty in Ageing (FRIA) Research Group and Department of Gerontology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Patricia De Vriendt

  3. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    W. Peersman

  4. Department of Social Work, University College Artevelde, Ghent, Belgium

    A. Florus

  5. Department of Research and Development, University College Artevelde, Ghent, Belgium

    M. Verbeke

  6. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy Program, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    D. Van De Velde

Authors
  1. Patricia De Vriendt
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  2. W. Peersman
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  3. A. Florus
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  4. M. Verbeke
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  5. D. Van De Velde
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Correspondence to Patricia De Vriendt.

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De Vriendt, P., Peersman, W., Florus, A. et al. Improving health related quality of life and independence in community dwelling frail older adults through a client-centred and activity-oriented program. A pragmatic randomized controlled trial. J Nutr Health Aging 20, 35–40 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-016-0673-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-016-0673-6

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