Health-promoting interventions for persons aged 80 and older are successful in the short term: results from the randomized and three-armed Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone study

OBJECTIVES: To examine the outcomes of the Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone study, which was designed to evaluate whether it is possible to delay deterioration if a health-promoting intervention is made when an older adult (≥80) is at risk of becoming frail and whether a multiprofessional group intervention is more effective in delaying deterioration than a single preventive home visit with regard to frailty, self-rated health, and activities of daily living (ADLs) at 3-month follow-up.

DESIGN: Randomized, three-armed, single-blind, controlled trial performed between November 2007 and May 2011.

SETTING: Two urban districts of Gothenburg, Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred fifty-nine community-living adults aged 80 and older not dependent on the municipal home help service.

INTERVENTION: A preventive home visit or four weekly multiprofessional senior group meetings with one follow-up home visit.

MEASUREMENTS: Change in frailty, self-rated health, and ADLs between baseline and 3-month follow-up.

RESULTS: Both interventions delayed deterioration of self-rated health (odds ratio (OR) = 1.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.12-3.54). Senior meetings were the most beneficial intervention for postponing dependence in ADLs (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.14-3.33). No effect on frailty could be demonstrated.

CONCLUSION: Health-promoting interventions made when older adults are at risk of becoming frail can delay deterioration in self-rated health and ADLs in the short term. A multiprofessional group intervention such as the senior meetings described seems to have a greater effect on delaying deterioration in ADLs than a single preventive home visit. Further research is needed to examine the outcome in the long term and in different contexts.