OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of a comprehensive geriatric assessment and individually tailored intervention on mobility in older people. In addition, the effectiveness of the geriatric intervention was evaluated among a subgroup of persons with musculoskeletal pain. DESIGN: Three-year geriatric development project with randomized assignment to intervention and control group. SETTING: Research centre, community and assisted living facilities. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred and eighty-one Finnish persons aged 75 to 98 years were assigned to an intervention (n = 404) or control (n = 377) group. INTERVENTION: A comprehensive geriatric assessment with a multifactorial intervention lasting two years. The intervention included individualized referrals, recommendations, physical activity counselling and supervised resistance training. MEASUREMENTS: Perceived limitation in walking 400m was gathered annually during the intervention and at the one-year post-intervention follow-up. RESULTS: The proportion of persons with mobility limitation at the beginning, at the two-year intervention and at the one-year post-intervention follow-up was 16%, 15%, 12% and 14%, respectively, in the intervention group. In the control group, the corresponding proportions were 19%, 18%, 23% and 26%. The treatment effect was significant at the end of the two-year intervention (odds ratio 0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.70 to 0.96, p = 0.013), and at the one-year post-intervention follow-up (0.84, 0.75 to 0.94, p = 0.002). The parallel positive effect of the intervention on mobility was even greater among persons with musculoskeletal pain. CONCLUSION: The comprehensive geriatric assessment and individually tailored multifactorial intervention had a positive effect on mobility, underlining their importance in health promotion and disability prevention in older people.

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