The effective of Otago Exercise Program on the physical frailty，cognitive function and ADL of elderly with cognitive frailty living in Nursing Homes: a randomized control trial

Abstract Introduction:Cognitive frailty can affect elderly in multiple domian which including poor quality of life, dementia, disability even death. Timely intervention may become the main target for primary prevention. This study was to assess the effectiveness of group OEP program for elderly with cognitive frailty.Method:This study was conducted from July 2020 to October 2020. Participants were elderly aged 75-95 years old who lived in nursing homes. Individuals in the study were randomly assigned to Otago Exercise Program(OEP) group (n = 31) and control group (n = 31). Besides sleep and diet-related health education, The intervetion in the OEP gourp consisted of 30-min session, twice a week and 12-week group exercise programme. The physical frailty, cognitive function and activities of daily living(ADL) were used to assess. Results:After intervention, the mean score (SD) of frailty scores in the OEP group VS control group at T1 was (2.03 (0.81)) vs (1.41 (0.98)); At T2 was (2.00 (0.96)) vs (1.17 (1.00)).The mean score (SD) of MOCA scores in the OEP group VS control group at T1 was ( 22.17 (2.99)) vs (20.30 (2.96)); At T2 was (23.45 (3.66) ) vs (19.90 (3.25)). But group effect (p < 0.05) and the interaction effect (p < 0.05) was significant which indicated that the group effects on the frailty score and MOCA score change from baseline differed significantly over time. However, there was no significant group and interaction effect (P>0.05) of ADL scores between the intervention groups. Conclusion:12-week OEP had better outcomes with respect to physical frailty and cognitive function for cognitive frailty elderly,but no effective on ADL.Further studies may also be able to find the OEP scheme on improving ADL.Trial registration: The study was registered in the Chinese Ethics Clinical Trials Registry ( Registration Number - ChiCTR2000039592- Date of Registration 02/11/2020. Accessed on http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx)