Smart Multi-Health Promotion Programs on Physical Health and Quality of Life in Older Adults (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Physical activity and appropriate nutrition are essential for older adults. Improving physical health and quality of life can lead to healthy aging. OBJECTIVE To investigate the long-term effects of smart multi-health promotion programs on the physical and mental health of older adults in communities. METHODS A quasi-experimental method was utilized to recruit 112 older adults voluntarily from a pharmacy in central Taiwan between April 2021 and February 2023.Participants were divided into an experimental group (n=64) receiving a multi-health promotion program and a control group (n=48) with no specific intervention. The study measured frailty, nutritional status, well-being, and quality of life using standardized tools such as the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF), Well-being Scale for Elders (WSE), and the EQ-5D-3L. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, Pearson correlation, and generalized estimating equations (GEE). RESULTS The experimental group outperformed the control group in muscle mass and strength. The GEE analysis revealed that the experimental group had a significantly higher quality of life at 12 weeks and 24 weeks. The groups showed no significant variations in frailty or well-being with time. CONCLUSIONS The study's findings highlight the practical benefits of interventions, including physical and social activities and nutritional support, in enhancing the quality of life and general physical health of the elderly. CLINICALTRIAL The trial design was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT05412251)