Effects of a Pedometer-Based Walking Home Program Plus Resistance Training on Inflammatory Cytokines and Depression in Thai Older People with Sarcopenia: A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT

Objective

To examine the effects of daily walking steps plus resistive exercise on chronic inflammatory markers and depressive symptoms in older adults with sarcopenia.

Methods

Ninety men and women aged over 60 years were enrolled and divided into 60 and 30 adults with and without sarcopenia, respectively. Older individuals were screened for sarcopenia using the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia in 2019. A simple random sample was conducted to divide the older adults with sarcopenia into two groups: control and intervention. Thirty older adults with sarcopenia were assigned to perform 12 weeks of step walking (>7500 steps) daily for 5 days/week plus resistance exercise with an elastic band twice/week; the control groups (i.e., no sarcopenia and sarcopenia) performed routine daily life Changes in depression and expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured before and after the 12-week intervention program. Two-way mixed ANOVA models were computed for group and interaction effects for each variable.

Results

Changes in depressive symptom scores (Δ2.86 ± 0.92) and TNF-α levels (Δ22.16 ± 2.30) were observed in the intervention group after the 12-week program. In addition, an interaction effect between the intervention (Δ4.04 ± 3.10) and control groups (Δ8.10 ± 4.88) was found for the symptoms of depression.

Conclusion

Older people with sarcopenia who accumulated >7,500 steps/day, 5 days/week plus resistive elastic band twice /week show improvements in inflammation and depressive symptoms.

Clinical implications:

Encourage physical activity had a positive effect on reducing inflammation and depression among older people with sarcopenia.

KEYWORDS:

• Walking
• inflammatory biomarkers
• depression
• sarcopenia
• older people

Clinical implications

• Physical activity can decrease inflammation and depression in older people with sarcopenia.

• Implementation of an exercise program consisting of walking >7500 steps 5 days/week plus resistive exercise twice a week can greatly improve markers of inflammation and depression.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all older people in Pathum Thani community dwelling and their caregivers for participating in the study. This study thank for the Thammasat University Research Unit for Physical Therapy in Respiratory and Cardiovascular Systems, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand and also Thammasat University Research Unit in Diagnostic Molecular Biology of Chronic Diseases related to Cancer (DMB-CDC).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data available statement

Data available on request from the authors

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2022.2150396

Additional information

Funding

This project is funded by National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), contract no. NRCT5-RSA63010-04.