The Leveraging Exercise to Age in Place (LEAP) Study: Engaging Older Adults in Community-Based Exercise Classes to Impact Loneliness and Social Isolation


Author: Allison Moser Mays1, Sungjin Kim2, Katrina Rosales3, Tam Au4, Sonja Rosen5

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Section of Geriatric Medicine (AMM, KR, SR), Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA; UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine (AMM, TA, SR), Los Angeles, CA. Electronic address: allison.mays@cshs.org.

<sup>2</sup> Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (SK), Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Research Center; Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.

<sup>3</sup> Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Section of Geriatric Medicine (AMM, KR, SR), Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA.

<sup>4</sup> UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine (AMM, TA, SR), Los Angeles, CA.

<sup>5</sup> Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Section of Geriatric Medicine (AMM, KR, SR), Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA; UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine (AMM, TA, SR), Los Angeles, CA.
Conference/Journal: Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
Date published: 2020 Oct 16
Other:
  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2020.10.006.   ,  Word Count: 245  
    Objective:

Social isolation and loneliness are associated with morbidity and mortality in older adults. Limited evidence exists regarding which interventions improve connectedness in this population.



Design/setting/participants:

In this pre-post study we assessed community-based group health class participants' (age ≥50) loneliness and social isolation. Participants (n = 382) were referred by a Cedars-Sinai Medical Network (Los Angeles, California) healthcare provider or self-referred from the community (July 2017-March 2020).



Intervention:

Participants met with a program coordinator and selected Arthritis Exercise, Tai Chi for Arthritis, EnhanceFitness, or the Healthier Living Workshop.



Measurements:

We measured social isolation using the Duke Social Support Index (DSSI) and loneliness using the UCLA 3-item Loneliness Scale at baseline, class completion, and 6 months.



Results:

Mean age was 76.8 years (standard deviation, SD = 9.1); 315 (83.1%) were female; 173 (45.9%) were Non-Hispanic white; 143 (37.9%) were Non-Hispanic Black; 173 (46.1%) lived alone; mean baseline DSSI score was 26.9 (SD = 4.0) and mean baseline UCLA score was 4.8 (SD = 1.8). On multivariable analysis adjusted for gender, race/ethnicity, income, self-rated health, and household size, DSSI improved by 2.4% at 6-week compared to baseline (estimated ratio, ER: 1.024; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.010-1.038; p-value = 0.001), and 3.3% at 6-month (ER: 1.033; 95% CI: 1.016-1.050; p-value <0.001). UCLA score after adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, live alone, number of chronic conditions, income, and self-rated health, did not change at 6-week (ER: 0.994; 95% CI: 0.962-1.027; p-value = 0.713), but decreased by 6.9% at 6-months (ER: 0.931; 95% CI: 0.895-0.968; p-value <0.001).



Conclusion:

Community-based group health class participants reported decreased loneliness and social isolation at 6-month follow-up.



Keywords: Social Isolation; exercise; loneliness.



PMID: 33268235 PMCID: PMC7563028 DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2020.10.006