TrackFrailty Project

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Less-volume: In the first 10-week cycle, the less-volume group will perform around 1500 repetitions per intervention. Participants will perform 1-3 sets of 4-7 repetitions per exercise with intensities ranging from 5% to 10% of body weight and 1-10 kg. Strength exercises will include chair squats, seated medicine ball throws, seated knee extensions, seated shoulder presses, standing calf raises, standing biceps curls, seated lateral raises, and chair stand + 4-meter walk. In the second and third 10-week training cycles, volume will increase by 20% with respect to the previous cycles. Two exercise physiologists will supervise training sessions.

More-volume: In the first 10-week cycle, the more-volume group will perform around 2000 repetitions per intervention. Participants will perform 1-3 sets of 6-10 repetitions per exercise with intensities ranging from 5% to 10% of body weight and 1-10 kg. Strength exercises will include chair squats, seated medicine ball throws, seated knee extensions, seated shoulder presses, standing calf raises, standing biceps curls, seated lateral raises, and chair stand + 4-meter walk. In the second and third 10-week training cycles, volume will increase by 20% with respect to the previous cycles. Two exercise physiologists will supervise training sessions.

Control: Participants in the control group will undergo sham training twice weekly for 30 weeks, consisting of stretching exercises supervised by two exercise physiologists.

Study summary

The TRACKFRAILTY project aims to answer the following main research questions:

i) What is the prevalence of physical frailty in individuals living in residential care facilities (RCF) from Portugal's Cova da Beira subregion (Interior Center Region)? ii) What factors best predict frailty status? iii) Is strength training effective in reversing physical frailty in RCF residents? iv) In the long term, what dose of strength training volume is needed to promote the most significant health benefits in frail RCF residents? Based on these research questions, the TRACKFRAILTY project aims to quantify the prevalence of frailty in Portuguese RCF residents from the Cova da Beira subregion and analyze the effects of long-term strength training with different volumes on reversing physical frailty.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Frailty phenotype — Baseline and after 10, 20, and 30 weeks of intervention (4 time points).
  Fried's criteria will be used to assess frailty (unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, slowness, and muscle weakness).

Trial sites (6)

More University of Beira Interior trials in Portugal