A virtually supervised exercise program improved fitness and mental wellness in healthy and comorbidity older adult individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affected older adults worldwide. Sedentary older adults experienced more severe adverse health effects due to their shelter-in-place. Physical activity was strongly recommended during periods of social distancing. The present study evaluated the impact of a virtually supervised exercise program on the physical fitness and mental health of Mexican older adults during the pandemic's lockdown.

Methods: Participants were 44 older adults who were assigned to one of four physical fitness groups: a healthy control group (Ctrl-H, n = 15), a comorbidity control group (Ctrl-COM, n = 9), an exercise group without comorbidities (Exe-H, n = 11), and an exercise group with comorbidities (Exe-COM, n = 9). The participants engaged in a 60-min, virtually-supervised concurrent exercise session three times/week for 12 weeks. Fitness was measured using the online Senior Fitness Tests and the 4-m Gait Speed Test. Mental health was evaluated through virtual interviews using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Within-subject pre vs. post-intervention comparisons tested for significant differences, between-groups and over time.

Results: Significant interactions were found in the scores of the Geriatric Depression Scale (p ≤ 0.0001; η_p² = 0.35), the Hamilton Depression Scale (p ≤ 0.0001; η_p² = 0.35), resilience scores (p ≤ 0.0001; η_p² = 0.46), lower-body strength (p ≤ 0.0001; η_p² = 0.32), timed up-and-go test (p = 0.018; η_p² = 0.18), the 6MWT distance scores (p ≤ 0.0001; η_p² = 0.39), and the 4-m gait speed test scores (p = 0.011; η_p² = 0.20).

Conclusion: A long-term virtually-supervised exercise program conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown period led to marked improvements in both the fitness and mental health of older Mexican adults. Comorbidities did not diminish these benefits. These findings provide empirical support for online exercise programs in the daily routines of older adults to make clinically meaningful improvements in both physical and mental well-being.

Keywords: fitness level; older adults; physical exercise; social distancing; wellness.

Figure 1

Flow diagram. Ctrl-H, Control Healthy Group; Ctrl-COM, Control Comorbidity Group; Exe-H, Exercise-Healthy Group; Exe-COM, Exercise Comorbidity Group; HDRS, Hamilton Depression Scale; GDS, Geriatric Depression Scale; MMSE, Mini Mental State Exam; CD-RISC, Connor Davidson Resilience Scale, YPAS, Yale Physical Activity Survey (h·wk. − 1).

Figure 2

Mental health results for all groups. (A) Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS) score of 17 items. (B) Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score. (C) Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) score. Data are presented as mean. Error bars are the 95% confidence interval.

Figure 3

Fitness results throughout the program for all groups. (A) Squat repetitions in 30  sec. (B) Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) in sec. (C) 4-meter gait speed test in sec. Data are presented as mean. Error bars are the 95% confidence interval.