Can Self-Management Strategies for Reducing Sedentary Behavior Combined With Multicomponent Training Improve the Body Composition of Older Adults? A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

Background: Body composition changes during the aging process leads to an increase in fat mass and a decline in lean mass. Physical exercise can cause changes in body composition, but it is unclear whether reducing sedentary behavior (SB) also produces positive effects.

Objective: To assess whether adopting self-management strategies (SMS) to reduce SB along with multicomponent training (MT) compared with a MT alone can improve the body composition of older adults who were physically active before the pandemic.

Methods: A single-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial was performed. Forty-five older adults (73.6 ± 6.3 years, 73.3% females) were divided into two groups: MT, who only performed exercise, and MT + SMS group, who performed exercise along with SMS to reduce SB. MT included aerobic, resistance, balance and flexibility components three times a week, for a duration of 50 min/session. The SMS consisted of goals and weekly telephone follow-up calls for 16 weeks. Body composition was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and the time spent in SB using the ActivPAL3 accelerometer. A generalized mixed linear model was performed in the software JAMOVI.

Results: Both groups reduced time in SB (p < .001), increased lean mass index (p = .038), and reduced the fat mass index (p < .001) and fat mass percentage (p < .001).

Conclusion: Implementing MT for older adults with characteristics similar to our study population may be sufficient to reduce SB and enhance body composition, as well as increase lean mass index, and decrease fat mass index. However, SMS to reduce SB did not potentiate the effects of MT on the body composition of older adults. Significance/Implications: Older adults can benefit from regular physical exercise.