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REVIEW article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Activity in the Prevention and Management of Disease
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1422222
This article is part of the Research Topic Ageing and physical activity: a multidimensional approach with new technology View all 6 articles

Ageing, clinical complexity, and exercise therapy: a multidimensional approach

Provisionally accepted
Salvatore Corrao Salvatore Corrao 1*Dario Cerasola Dario Cerasola 1Daniela - Lucini Daniela - Lucini 2Christiano Argano Christiano Argano 3
  • 1 University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
  • 2 University of Milan, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
  • 3 Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, ARNAS Ospedali Civico Di Cristina Benfratelli, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Ageing is a multidimensional concept related to the progressive decline in physiological functions. The decrease of physical autonomy due to the ageing process leads to frailty, which in turn is associated with disability and comorbidity. Ageing represents the primary risk factor for chronic degenerative diseases, especially involving cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, and osteoarticular systems, determining the decrease in activities and quality of daily life. Regular physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of chronic degenerative diseases, moderate or severe functional limitations, and premature death in older adults. In light of the relationship between ageing, sedentary lifestyle, disability, comorbidity, and physical activity, a clear need emerges within the health system. Better control on the territory of pathologies related to ageing with the management of clinical and care complexity, multidimensional and multi-professional evaluation of the elderly complex and fragile patient, also through the definition of specific outpatient packages for pathology that allow the simplification of the evaluation process. There is a need for integration between local services, hospitals, and social assistance services. Aim of this review is to highlight the importance of the multidimensional approach is essential to be able to classify the complex elderly patient according to a multi-professional vision aimed at evaluating comorbidities and frailties, including sarcopenia, nutritional deficits, functional capacity, and planning a personalized and monitored motor training program, to improve motor, metabolic, cardiovascular and respiratory functions. In addition, developing an integrated hospital-community-care services management program to follow up with patients post-care is crucial.

    Keywords: Ageing, Clinical complexity, Exercise Therapy, physical exercise, active ageing

    Received: 23 Apr 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Corrao, Cerasola, Lucini and Argano. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Salvatore Corrao, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.