“Our review showed a significant benefit of physical activity interventions of various types on certain outcomes including mobility, ADLs, cognitive function, quality of life and frailty when compared to control groups in frail adults aged 65 years or more. The effect sizes ranged from small to large, with low to moderate certainty of evidence. When we looked at all physical activity interventions together, there was a large effect on frailty, a medium effect on quality of life, ADLs and mobility, and a small effect on cognitive function.
Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been conducted to evaluate various physical activity interventions and their outcomes related to frailty prevention, progression and reversal, but few have used such an explicit inclusion criterion for prefrailty or frailty, or combined individual measurements of outcomes (such as muscle strength and gait speed) into overall effect estimates (such as physical performance) to allow for a more robust presentation of the results. However, frailty itself was measured infrequently, both at baseline and after the intervention. The authors of only 4 of the 23 studies that we meta-analyzed reported frailty outcomes after the intervention, 3 of which were mixed physical activity interventions. When compared to control, these interventions showed a large effect size, with moderate certainty of evidence, similar to other reviews; however, the GRADE approach was not used in any of those reviews, and only 2 included a meta-analysis of outcomes.”
More on the Effectiveness of physical activity interventions in older adults with frailty or prefrailty: a systematic review and meta-analysis via CMAJ.
UBC Family Practice Residency Program: Abbotsford-Mission Site 