Four disease profiles reveal uneven benefits from lifestyle programs after age 70
Older adults living with several chronic diseases, a condition known as multimorbidity, may respond differently to interventions aimed at preventing disability, depending on the combination of diseases they have. A new study, published in Nature Aging and led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, suggests that looking at patterns of…
A new study published in Nature Aging reveals that the effectiveness of lifestyle programs aimed at preventing disability in older adults may vary depending on their specific combination of chronic diseases. The research, conducted by Karolinska Institutet and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, analyzed data from 1,199 frail individuals aged 70 or older with multimorbidity across 11 European countries.
Participants were randomly assigned to either a lifestyle intervention program or a control group receiving healthy aging information. The researchers identified four distinct disease patterns: a nonspecific pattern, a psychiatric pattern, a cardiovascular and metabolic pattern, and a respiratory pattern. While the lifestyle intervention generally reduced the risk of mobility impairment or death by 22% compared to the control group, the benefits varied among the disease groups.
People with a psychiatric disease pattern experienced the greatest reduction in risk, with a 35% decrease. Those with a nonspecific multimorbidity also benefitted, although the effect was minimal in cardiometabolic or respiratory patterns. The study's lead author, Davide Liborio Vetrano, emphasizes that the combination of chronic conditions can influence the efficacy of preventive interventions, suggesting that future programs should be tailored to individual disease profiles to maximize their benefits.
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