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Use of the reliable change index to evaluate the effect of a multicomponent exercise program on physical functions

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Abstract

Aims

Using the reliable change index (RCI), we aimed to examine the effect of a multicomponent exercise program on the individual level.

Methods

Overall, 270 adults (mean age, 78 years) completed a multicomponent physical exercise program (strength, aerobic, gait, and balance) for 40 min, 1–2 times per week, continued up to 1 year at a daycare center. Effectiveness was assessed using grip, ankle, knee, and hip strength; Timed Up & Go (TUG); Berg Balance Scale (BBS); gait speed; and 6-min walking distance. These were measured at baseline and every 3 months thereafter. We calculated the RCI using the data between two-time points (baseline and at 3, 6, 9, or 12 months) in each participant and then calculated the mean RCI value across the participants. A paired t-test was also employed to evaluate the effect of the intervention as an average-based statistics.

Results

The highest mean RCI values were on ankle plantar-flexion strength, followed by gait speed, hip abduction strength, BBS, knee extensor strength, 6-min walk distance, grip strength, and finally TUG. Paired t-test also revealed significant improvement with moderate effect sizes for ankle plantar-flexion strength (0.504), gait speed (0.413), hip abduction strength (0.374), BBS (0.334), knee extensor strength (0.264), and 6-min walk distance (0.248). Significant but small effect size was seen on TUG (0.183).

Conclusion

The RCI is a convenient method of comparing the effect between different assessments, especially at an individual level. This index can be applied to the use of personal feedback.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the physiotherapists at Kansai Medical University Kori Hospital for their support in running this study. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant No. 21K11277).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kansai Medical University, 18-89, Uyamahigashimachi, Hirakata, 573-1136, Japan

    Haruhiko Sato, Masanori Wakida, Kimihiko Mori, Tsuyoshi Asai, Yoshihiro Fukumoto & Jiro Nakano

  2. KMU Daycare Center Kori, Kansai Medical University Kori Hospital, Neyagawa, Japan

    Ryo Kubota

  3. Department of Rehabilitation, Kansai Medical University Hospital, Hirakata, Japan

    Takayuki Kuwabara & Kimitaka Hase

  4. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata, Japan

    Ryo Kubota, Takayuki Kuwabara & Kimitaka Hase

Authors
  1. Haruhiko Sato
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  2. Masanori Wakida
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Contributions

HS contributed to the study conception, design, data analysis, interpretation of data, and preparation of the manuscript. MW contributed to the study conception, material preparation, data collection, and interpretation of data. KM contributed to the study conception and interpretation of data. RK and TK contributed to the study conception, data collection, and interpretation of data. TA, YF, and JN contributed to reviewing and editing. KH contributed to the study conception, reviewing and editing, and project administration. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HS. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haruhiko Sato.

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Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Statement of human and animal rights

All procedures in this study that involved human participants were performed following the ethical standards stated in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Kansai Medical University (No. 2018251).

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Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Sato, H., Wakida, M., Kubota, R. et al. Use of the reliable change index to evaluate the effect of a multicomponent exercise program on physical functions. Aging Clin Exp Res 34, 3033–3039 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-022-02241-6

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