Physical activity and functional ability in care home residents

Physical activity (PA) recommendations exist for care home residents, yet few studies have examined functional ability to determine feasibility of these guidelines. The present study compared functional ability of care home residents to community-dwelling adults. Eleven care home individuals and eleven community-dwelling individuals participated in the study. We assessed functional ability by means of handgrip, one-legged stance (1LS, maximum 45s duration), timed 8 foot up-and-go (TUG), back-scratch (BS), chair sit-and-reach (CSR), 30 s chair sit-to-stand (StoS)and daily step count (Step). When controlling for age, care home residents had poorer handgrip strength (p = 0.002 left, p = 0.002 right), 1LS (p<0.001), TUG (p = 0.001), BS (p = 0.001), CSR (p = 0.022) and Step (p = 0.001) performance, while performance in the StoS was similar (p = 0.088). Care home residents demonstrated lower functional ability, raising concerns regarding their ability to meet PA recommendations. Perhaps most concerning is the low level of objectively measured PA (<10% that of community-dwelling participants). Present data support promotion of PA during earlier stages of the lifespan, to prevent functional decline and promote increased healthspan.