Power training superior to strength training In improving physical function in older adults; JAMA

In a new study conducted by Anoop T. Balachandran and team found that in healthy, community-living older individuals, power training (PT) was related with a small increase in physical function when compared to typical strength training. The findings of this study were published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

Strength training exercise is advised for older persons to improve physical function. However, it is unclear whether strength training (lifting and lowering weights under control) and power training (lifting and lowering weights quickly and under control) are connected with increased physical function in older persons. As a result, this study was designed to determine if physical therapy vs standard strength training is connected with physical function increase in older persons.

From the creation of the database through October 20, 2021, systematic searches of MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, Embase, CINAHL, PEDro, PsycInfo, and SPORTDiscus were performed. Strength training with instructions to shift the weight as quickly as feasible during the lifting phase was compared to typical strength training in healthy, community-living older persons (age 60 years). Two authors selected trials independently, collected information, evaluated the risk of bias using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool 2, and evaluated the confidence of the proof using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation technique. The summary effect size estimates were computed using a multilevel random-effects model with clustered robust variance estimation and are shown as standardized mean differences (SMDs).

The key findings of this study were as follow:

1. There were a total of 20 RCTs that involved 566 community-living older persons.

2. In 13 RCTs (n = 383), PT was linked with an improvement in physical function with low-certainty evidence and with an improvement in self-reported function with low-certainty evidence.

3. For substantial risk of bias and imprecision in physical function and very severe imprecision in self-reported physical function, the evidence was lowered by two levels.

In conclusion, power training improved physical function in 13 RCTs and self-reported physical function in three RCTs. High-quality, bigger RCTs, on the other hand, are necessary to reach more certain results.

Reference:

Balachandran, A. T., Steele, J., Angielczyk, D., Belio, M., Schoenfeld, B. J., Quiles, N., Askin, N., & Abou-Setta, A. M. (2022). Comparison of Power Training vs Traditional Strength Training on Physical Function in Older Adults. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 5, Issue 5, p. e2211623). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.11623