Table 1 Key concepts and operational definitions pertaining to the rapid review
Concept | Operational Definition |
|---|---|
Recently published | 2015-current (Feb 2021) |
High-quality | Journal with a top-10 Web of Science impact factor in the following four categories: Medicine, General & Internal; Geriatrics and Gerontology; Rehabilitation; and Sports Science. |
Randomized controlled trials | An experiment in which two or more interventions, possibly including a control intervention or no intervention, are compared by being randomly allocated to participants. In most trials one intervention is assigned to each individual but sometimes assignment is to defined groups of individuals (for example, in a household) or interventions are assigned within individuals (for example, in different orders or to different parts of the body) [30]. |
Physical activity intervention | Physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure and increases heart rate and breathing. Exercise is physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive and purposive in the sense that improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness is an objective [31]. The following types of interventions were eligible: • Trials must have delivered some type of physical activity to some participants with the goal of affecting one or more health-related outcomes (other than just physical activity behaviour). • In multicomponent interventions, physical activity must have been one of the interventions delivered. • In multifactorial interventions, where interventions were targeted to individual risk factors, physical activity must have been one of the interventions available. • In factorial designs that tested physical activity with one or more other active interventions, at least one group had to receive physical activity alone (possibly with control), so that the effects of physical activity could be isolated. The following types of interventions were not eligible: • Behaviour change interventions whose main purpose was to increase levels of physical activity. • Interventions that delivered the same physical activity to all participants and augmented it with another intervention (e.g., dietary). • Single joint rehabilitation interventions. |
Older adults | Mean or median age of study population at least 60 years [32]. We did not exclude trials based on living arrangements of older adults; thus, trials were eligible if they focused on older adults living in the community, assisted living, and residential care/aged-care/nursing homes/long-term care homes. We excluded trials where the intervention was conducted in a hospital setting or on a hospital-based population, as hospital stays are temporary, and usually represent a fluctuating health status and a unique set of barriers, enablers, and goals for physical activity [33]. We excluded trials that targeted and recruited a specific clinical population (e.g., all participants had obesity/overweight, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, frailty); however, we included trials where some participants had one or more clinical conditions. In addition, we did not regard people with a history of falls as a specific clinical population because falling is a highly-prevalent behaviour among older adults. |