Walking with its training effects on the fitness and activity patterns of 79-91 year old females

Background: Information is lacking about the physiological and psychosocial effects of exercise among very old persons. Aim: To investigate the effect of a twice-weekly, six-month progressive wal king programme on 38 healthy women in their ninth decade, for evidence of t he benefits of exercise. Methods: Aerobic fitness, blood pressure, skinfold thickness and habitual a ctivity patterns were studied in a randomised controlled trial. Women were chosen, as this is a group of increasing demographic importance for which s tudies are lacking. Results: The training group and control group were not significantly differ ent at baseline. However, after six months of progressive exercise the trai ning group showed lower resting (p<0.05) and working (p<0.005) heart rates compared with non-exercising controls. ANCOVA analyses indicated higher sco res for the training group compared with the control group for Maximum Curr ent Activity and Normative Impairment Index (both p<0.001), which are both components of the Habitual Activity Profile, Morale also significantly impr oved within the training group (p<0.01). Conclusions: These data show the trainability of very old women and the pos itive impact a low frequency, progressive exercise programme can have on ca rdiorespiratory fitness and daily living activity patterns. Such improvemen ts are likely to be indicative of an enhanced outlook for independence.