5-YEAR PERFORMANCE TRENDS FOR OLDER EXERCISERS - A HIERARCHICAL MODELOF ENDURANCE, STRENGTH, AND FLEXIBILITY

OBJECTIVE: To examine 5-year trends in measures of physical performanc e, and the impact of disease upon performance, in three domains: cardi ovascular fitness, musculoskeletal strength, and flexibility among old er adults participating in a medically supervised exercise program. DE SIGN: Longitudinal analyses of data obtained in an observational cohor t study. SETTING: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dur ham, North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-three community-dwelling ve terans between 64 and 90 years of age. INTERVENTION: Voluntary partici pation in a medically supervised outpatient exercise program meeting 3 days per week for 90 minutes per session. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Chan ge: over time in cardiovascular fitness, musculoskeletal strength, and flexibility. RESULTS: Ferry-nine percent of the original study partic ipants remained in the program for a full 5 years. They had lower base line rates of cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal diseases than did the dropouts. Dropouts were significantly more impaired in baseline me asures of cardiovascular fitness (P = .038) and strength (P = .007). C hanges over time for cardiovascular fitness and strength were similar. Only linear (P < .05) and quadratic time (P < .001) were significant. Only linear time was significant for measures of flexibility (P < .05 ). Baseline cardiorespiratory disease, baseline musculoskeletal diseas e, and interaction terms were not significant. Overall, measures of ph ysical performance demonstrated gradual improvement for 2 to 3 years, followed by a gradual decline in performance irrespective of baseline disease status. CONCLUSION: Older adults who exercise regularly, inclu ding those with multiple chronic diseases, can achieve significant gai ns in measures of physical performance, and these gains can be sustain ed for 2 to 3 years.