Stand if You Can: A Standing Intervention in Long Term Care

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Sedentary Behavior
Frailty
Physical Disability

Interventions: Behavioral: Standing

Registration Number: NCT03796039

Lead Sponsor: University of New Brunswick

Brief Summary: It is currently unknown if reducing sitting time, an activity that is highly prevalent in frail older adults living in long term care (LTC) facilities, is associated with an improvement in physical capacity such as walking speed. Simple tasks such as walking speed is associated with important outcomes for residents in LTC such as autonomy and hospitalization. The investigators hypothesize that standing an additional 100 minutes per week for 5 months will result in a clinically meaningful improvement in walking speed (0.1m/sec) in LTC residents compared to residents receiving a sitting social activity.

Detailed Description: LTC facilities from Moncton and Fredericton will be recruited, with half of the LTC facilities randomized as the intervention and half as the control group. The investigators are aiming to enrol half of the LTC in Fredericton and half in Moncton. A total of 88 residents (44 in the control group, 44 in the intervention group) will be enrolled in the program.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 97

Inclusion Criteria

Resident at one of the selected LTC facilities;
Able to provide consent or have a power of attorney agree on behalf of a resident to participate in the study;
Able to walk for ten meters, with or without a walking aid; The main outcome is walking speed performed for a distance of 10 meters. Therefore, we want everyone who participates in the study to be able to complete the test at baseline. This way we can answer the main research question, while adhering to our sample size calculation.

Exclusion Criteria

If Identified by staff at the facility as too high risk for falling by participating in the intervention.

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Standing and Social Intervention	Standing	Participants be exposed to an additional 100 minutes of standing per week. Participants will do this by standing for 20 minutes Monday through Friday.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in Walking Speed	Pre and post intervention testing	Measured by the 10m walking speed test

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Anxiety Symptoms	Pre-Post Testing (following the 5 month intervention)	The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (Scale 0-20). A low score means a better outcome.
Metabolic Profile - High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol	Pre and post testing (before and after the 5-month intervention)	High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was analyzed using the CardioChek Professional Analyzer system (PTS Diagnostics, Whitestown, Indiana, USA). A finger prick was conducted using a single use lancet and approximately 60 µL of whole blood was collected for this test.
Change in Leg Strength	Pre-Post Testing (following the 5 month intervention)	Using hand-held dynamometer to quantify leg strength through knee extension
Depression	Pre-Post Testing (following the 5 month intervention)	Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (0-15 scale). Lower score is better outcome.
Loneliness	Pre-Post Testing (following the 5 month intervention)	Loneliness was measured using the UCLA Loneliness Scale (20-80). A low score indicates a better outcome
Change in Balance	Pre and post testing (following the 5 month intervention). Data was collected but investigators are still analyzing findings.	Measured by a portable device (Wii Balance board), which has sensors that detects sway .
Social Behaviours	Pre-Post Testing (following the 5-month intervention). Data has been collected, but is still being analyzed	Semi-structured interviews with residents (participants and non-participants), family members and staff will be administered at the end of the study
Rate of Falls	The number of falls will be collected from three timeframes: 1. Between 6 months prior to and the start of program 2. the duration of the program (5 months) 3. From the end of the program to 6 months follow up. Data is still being analyzed at this time.	Falls, injuries due to falls and hospitalization will be collected at 3 timepoints
Change Lower Limb Power	Pre-Post Testing (following the 5 month intervention)	Using the 30second sit-stand test following senior fitness test protocol
Fall Efficacy	Pre-Post Testing (following the 5 month intervention)	Falls Efficacy Scale-International Questionnaire (16-64 scale). Low score indicates a better score
Metabolic Profile - Triglycerides	Pre-Post Testing (before and following the 5 month intervention).	Capillary blood analyzed with a cardiochek device. Blood collected via a finger prick and analyzed with a cardiochek device. Note that Total Cholesterol, HDL, Triglycerides, LDL and Glucose were all measured using the cardiochek device.
Metabolic Profile - Blood Glucose	Pre-Post Intervention (before and after 5-month intervention)	Fasted blood glucose was analyzed using a CardioChek Professional Analyzer system (PTS Diagnostics, Whitestown, Indiana, USA).
Metabolic Profile - Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol	Pre-Post intervention (before and after 5-month intervention)	Low-density lipoprotein was assessed using a CardioChek Professional Analyzer system (PTS Diagnostics, Whitestown, Indiana, USA).