Assessment Of Functional Fitness Outcomes In 12-week Fitness Program Intervention Based On Age Categories Among Community Dwelling Seniors

Purpose: To assess functional fitness outcomes among different age categories of older adults since it plays critical role in older adults’ functional independence and ability to perform activities of daily living. Methods: Forty-six community dwelling seniors (Mage77; 91% female, 65% African American) completed a 12-week functional fitness intervention. Pre and post assessments including arm curl test, chair stand test, back scratch test, and step in place tests were conducted to investigate changes in fitness. Senior participants were categorized by age (60-69 yrs, 70-79 yrs, 80-89 yrs) to account for age-related changes in capacity. Paired sample t-tests were utilized to assess pre to post changes by age category across all senior fitness test tasks variables. Significance was set at p < .05. Results: Chair Stand Test improvements were found in all three age categories: 60-69 years old t (5) = -4.71, p < .01, Cohen’s d = 1.2, 70-79 years old t(17) = -3.812, p = .001, Cohen’s d = 3.22 , and 80-89 years old t(11) = -4.619, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 2.125 indicate lower extremity strength improvements. Whereas improvements in arm curls and step in place were found in age category 70-79 indicating improvements in upper extremity strength t(17) = -3.343, p < .01, Cohen’s d = 13.75 and aerobic capacity t(17) = -3.029, p < .01, Cohen’s d = 17.89 respectively. Lastly, improvements in back scratch test were found in age category 80-89, illustrating upper extremity flexibility t(17) = -3.343, p < .01, Cohen’s d = 13.75. Conclusion: Our results illustrate a 12-week functional fitness intervention may contribute to significant improvements such as aerobic capacity, upper extremity flexibility, and upper and lower body strength in older adults, with the greatest improvements found among those 70–79 years old. Further studies should investigate how we may tailor functional fitness interventions to facilitate greater improvements among all age categories.Michigan HealthEndowment Fund Grant R-2103-148372