Relationship of the SITLESS intervention on medication use in community-dwelling older adults: an exploratory study

Viegas, R. et al. (2023) Relationship of the SITLESS intervention on medication use in community-dwelling older adults: an exploratory study. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1238842. (doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1238842)

Abstract

Background: Sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) interventions in older adults can improve health outcomes. Problems related with aging include prevalent comorbidity, multiple non-communicable diseases, complaints, and resulting polypharmacy. This manuscript examines the relationship between an intervention aiming at reducing SB on medication patterns. Method: This manuscript presents a local sub-analysis of the SITLESS trial data on medication use. SITLESS was an exercise referral scheme (ERS) enhanced by self-management strategies (SMS) to reduce SB in community-dwelling older adults. We analyzed data from the ERS + SMS, ERS and usual care (UC) groups. Patient medication records were available at baseline and at the end of the intervention (4-month period) and were analyzed to explore the effect of SITLESS on medication patterns of use. Result: A sample of 75 participants was analyzed, mostly older overweight women with poor body composition scores and mobility limitations. There was a significant reduction of 1.6 medicines (SD = 2.7) in the ERS group (p < 0.01), but not in the UC or ERS + SMS groups. Differences were more evident in medicines used for short periods of time. Conclusion: The findings suggest that an exercise-based program enhanced by SMS to reduce SB might influence medication use for acute conditions but there is a need to further investigate effects on long-term medicine use in older adults.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The SITLESS project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 634270. RV is a PhD scholar of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (Grant number: SFRH/BD/13164/2022).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McIntosh, Professor Emma and Deidda, Dr Manuela

Creator Roles

Deidda, M.: Methodology, Data curation, Writing – review and editing
McIntosh, E.: Methodology, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Viegas, R., Alves Da Costa, F., Mendes, R., Deidda, M., McIntosh, E., Sansano-Nadal, O., Magaña, J.-C., Rothenbacher, D., Denkinger, M., Caserotti, P., Tully, M. A., Roqué, M., and Giné-Garriga, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment
• Journal Name: Frontiers in Public Health
• Publisher: Frontiers Media
• ISSN: 2296-2565
• ISSN (Online): 2296-2565
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Frontiers in Public Health 11:1238842
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License