BACKGROUND: The Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) clinical trial demonstrated that a structured program of physical activity (PA) reduced mobility-disability in older adults by up to 28%. It remains unknown whether the benefits of LIFE PA can be translated to older adults at risk for mobility-disability in real-world community-based settings. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted the ENhancing independence using Group-based community interventions for healthy AGing in Elders (ENGAGE) pilot study and examined the safety, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of translating LIFE PA to a community-based senior center. METHODS: Forty older adults with severe lower extremity functional limitations (age 76.9 +/- 7.3 years; body mass index 32.7 +/- 8 kg/m2; 85% female; short physical performance battery score 6.3 +/- 2.2) were randomized to 24 weeks of PA or a health education control intervention. RESULTS: Community-based PA was safe (serious adverse events: PA versus health education, 0:2; nonserious adverse events: PA versus health education, 3:1) and participants successfully adhered to the PA intervention (65.2%). Compared to health education, PA participants who attended >= 25% of scheduled visits had meaningful and sustained short physical performance battery improvements at follow-up (between group short physical performance battery score differences: approximately 0.7 units). CONCLUSIONS: ENGAGE has demonstrated the preliminary safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of LIFE PA in a real-world community-based setting. Larger-scale translational studies are needed to further disseminate the benefits of LIFE PA to vulnerable older adults in a variety of community-based settings.
Copyright the Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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