Feasibility and Acceptability of Remote Physical Exercise Programs to Prevent Mobility Loss in Pre-Disabled Older Adults during Isolation Periods Such as the COVID-19 Pandemic

• DOI: 10.1007/s12603-021-1688-1
• Publication Date: 2021-10-12T17:28:40Z
• Authors: F. Buckinx; M. Aubertin-Leheudre; R. Daoust; S. Hegg; D. Martel; M. Martel-Thibault; Marie-Josée Sirois
• Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Exercise Therapy; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Communicable Disease Control; Feasibility Studies; Humans; Brief Reports; Exercise; Pandemics; Aged

This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of remote physical exercise (PE) to prevent mobility loss among pre-disabled older adults during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Participants followed a 12-week PE remote program in Zoom© supervised groups (Web-Ex group, n=11) or phone-supervised individual booklet-based home-program (Booklet group, n=33). The total rate of adherence was 82.5% in the Web-Ex group and 85.8% in the Booklet group. The level of satisfaction was « a lot » for 60% of the participants in the Web-ex group and for 37.9% of those included in the Booklet group. Respectively 10% and 31% of the participants rated the difficulty as « low » in the web-ex and Booklet groups. Remote physical exercise using a web technology or booklets at home with regular and personalized follow-up during the lockdown was feasible and acceptable among pre-disabled seniors.