Effectiveness of a multicomponent exercise intervention in community-dwelling older Chinese people with cognitive frailty: protocol for a mixed-methods research

Hongting Ning; Fenghui Chen; Junxin Li; Yan Du; Xi Chen; Shuang Wu; Abigael Joseph; Yinyan Gao; Zeng Cao; Hui Feng

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2024.1282263

Effectiveness of a multicomponent exercise intervention in community-dwelling older Chinese people with cognitive frailty: protocol for a mixed-methods research

Front Aging Neurosci. 2024 Feb 12:16:1282263. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1282263. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Hongting Ning^#^{1

2}, Fenghui Chen^#^{1

3}, Junxin Li², Yan Du³, Xi Chen¹, Shuang Wu¹, Abigael Joseph³, Yinyan Gao⁴, Zeng Cao⁵, Hui Feng¹

Affiliations

¹ Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
² School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
³ Nursing School, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China.
⁴ School of Nursing, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multicomponent exercise intervention and to clarify the underlying mechanisms of the program in community-dwelling older adults with cognitive frailty. Additionally, the perception of participants in the program will be explored.

Design: A mixed-methods design, including a randomized controlled trial and an exploratory qualitative study, was used.

Methods: Each group consists of 41 participants. The experimental group will undergo a 12-week multicomponent exercise intervention, including warm-up, exergaming aerobic exercise, elastic-band resistance exercise, and cool-down. This intervention was developed based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) and Self-Efficacy Model (SEM). The control group will not receive any intervention. Physical frailty and cognitive function will be considered as primary outcomes. Data will be collected both at baseline and at the end of the intervention period. Fisher's exact test, analysis of covariance, and generalized linear models will be conducted to compare mean changes between the two groups. Additionally, the mediation models will be used to examine whether any intervention effects are mediated through exercise self-efficacy.

Discussion: The findings of this study are anticipated to provide valuable insights for healthcare providers, enabling them to learn about effective strategies to enhance exercise adherence and promote improved functionality, independence, and quality of life for older adults with cognitive frailty.Clinical trial registration: [https://clinicaltrials.gov/], identifier [ChiCTR2200058850].

Keywords: cognitive frailty; community-dwelling; exercise intervention; exergaming; mixed methods; older adults; resistance exercise.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by grants from the Hunan Province Innovation-Driven Project (Grant no. CX20220335), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant nos. 2020YFC2008503 and 2020YFC2008602). These funding sources had no role in the design of this study and will not have any role during its execution, analyses, interpretation of the data, or decision to submit results.