Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the sample at baseline, 3 months and 6 months^a

 Age, years, mean (SD)

74.2 (5.8)

74.7 (6.1)

73.7 (5.6)

 BMI, kg/m², mean (SD)

23.2 (3.7)

23.2 (3.4)

23.2(4.1)

 Smoking (Yes/No %)

10.7/89.3

14.5/81.5

6.8/93.2

 Education, mean (SD)

13.1 (3.4)

12.8 (3.2)

13.5 (3.6)

 Walking aids (Yes/No %)

19.5/80.5

18.4/81.6

20.5/79.5

 Living alone (Yes/No %)

45.1/54.9

47.3/52.7

42.9/57.1

 Comorbidity (Yes/No %)

40.5/59.5

38.7/61.3

42.5/57.5

 Painkillers (Yes/No %)

41.8/58.2

40.0/60.0

43.7/56.3

 Painkillers on prescription (Yes/No %)

58.6/41.4

53.3/46.7

64.3/35.7

 Fear of falling (Yes/No %)

74.0/26.0

75.3/24.7

72.6/27.4

 Falls last year (Yes/No %)

43.9/56.1

44.7/55.3

43.1/56.9

 IPAQ, % high

32.1

29.3

35.0

  % moderate

37.0

46.3

27.5

  % low

24.4

37.5

30.9

 IPAQ, walking MET, median

743

792

693

693

1039

809

990

  225% percentile

264

297

236

264

297

380

371

  50% percentile

743

792

693

693

1039

809

990

  75% percentile

1386

1386

1386

1485

1518

2079

1733

 IPAQ Sitting per day, minutes, mean (SD)

320 (141)

320 (149)

320 (133)

307 (131)

323 (134)

300 (129)

340 (137)

 NPRS pain, mean (SD)

3.4 (2.5)

3.2 (2.2)

3.5 (2.7)

3.0 (2.1)

3.5 (2.8)

3.1 (2.2)

3.3 (2.9)

 FES-1, mean (SD)

24.3 (6.7)

24.7 (6.6)

23.8 (6.8)

23.0 (5.2)

23.2 (6.7)

23.8 (6.0)

23.5 (7.6)

 10 m Walking speed, m/s

1.21 (0.30)

1.20 (0.29)

1.22 (0.30)

1.33 (0.26)

1.30 (0.30)

1.32 (0.28)

1.31 (0.30)

 FR, cm

34.1 (6.4)

33.9 (6.2)

34.3 (6.6)

34.7 (6.6)

35.6 (8.0)

36.3 (6.4)

35.5 (8.1)

 FSST, sec

9.61 (3.1)

9.80 (3.2)

9.40 (3.05)

8.93 (2.26)

9.42 (3.29)

8.77 (1.78)

9.13 (3.19)

 Grip strength, right, kg

22.0 (5.1)

21.6 (4.7)

22.3 (5.4)

21.2 (4.9)

21.6 (4.5

21.1 (5.1)

21.2 (4.6)

 Arm curls

15.2 (3.8)

15.1 (3.9)

15.3 (3.8)

18.2 (3.5)

17.2 (3.3)

17.8 (3.4)

16.5 (4.0)

30STS

12.6 (3.9)

12.8 (3.6)

12.5 (4.2)

14.6 (4.0)

13.0 (3.7)

14.4 (3.8)

13.3 (4.2)

 2.45 m Up and Go, sec

6.51 (2.57)

6.50 (1.97)

6.52 (3.10)

6.46 (1.66)

6.82 (2.35)

6.40 (1.51)

6.75 (2.61)

 6 MWD, m

471 (131)

468 (120)

473 (142)

506 (104.8)

490 (133.6)

497.6 (112.8)

506.2 (135.8)

  Physical functioning

67.6 (22.9)

66.5 (21.0)

68.7 (24.9)

70.4 (19.7)

70.2 (25.2)

69.4 (20.2)

70.7 (25.5)

  Role physical

63.0 (29.0)

60.6 (27.8)

65.6 (30.1)

67.0 (28.2)

67.2 (31.1)

65.2 (25.9)

67.3 (28.4)

  Body pain

58.8 (23.7)

57.6 (22.7)

60.0 (24.9)

62.9 (23.6)

64.8 (25.2)

59.2 (23.0)

60.6 (28.2)

  General health

63.7 (23.3)

63.9 (22.3)

63.4 (24.4)

63.7 (20.3)

64.9 (23.0)

64.0 (20.2)

64.6 (24.7)

  Vitality

53.9 (16.6)

53.2 (14.7)

54.5 (18.5)

54.3 (17.4)

57.0 (18.5)

54.1 (14.4)

53.7 (18.3)

  Social function

84.1 (20.5)

85.2 (19.3)

82.9 (21.8)

86.0 (19.6)

84.9 (23.0)

83.7 (20.4)

85.2 (23.3)

  Role emotional

63.1 (20.6)

63.7 (20.3)

62.6 (20.9)

67.2 (13.9)

65.4 (18.5)

67.9 (16.4)

65.3 (20.2)

  Mental health

71.6 (13.1)

72.6 (10.4)

70.6 (15.5)

73.8 (9.6)

71.7 (13.9)

70.9 (11.7)

69.7 (14.8)

  Physical component score

43.0 (10.0)

42.3 (9.2)

43.7 (10.8)

44.0 (9.3)

45.3 (10.6)

43.5 (9.5)

44.5 (11.4)

  Mental component score

49.7 (6.6)

50.4 (5.5)

48.9 (7.5)

50.5 (5.3)

49.6 (6.7)

49.8 (5.6)

49.0 (6.6)

  Pain

35.3 (25.2)

34.7 (25.0)

35.8 (25.4)

29.3 (25.9)

28.9 (24.8)

33.4 (24.0)

33.7 (26.5)

  Physical function

17.2 (13.2)

17.3 (10.9)

17.2 (15.3)

14.9 (9.7)

15.5 (13.9)

16.4 (11.3)

16.7 (16.5)

  Social Function

25.8 (21.1)

28.2 (20.4)

23.4 (21.7)

24.1 (17.7)

20.6 (19.1)

27.9 (21.1)

23.3 (21.7)

  General Health Perceptions

44.8 (22.5)

46.6 (22.0)

42.9 (23.1)

44.0 (18.9)

44.5 (26.9)

45.2 (21.6)

42.2 (25.9)

  Mental Function

34.3 (12.9)

34.0 (11.9)

34.5 (14.0)

32.9 (10.8)

33.7 (14.1)

34.3 (11.3)

35.4 (16.5)

  Total score QUALEFFO

26.7 (13.1)

27.1 (11.1)

26.3 (15.0)

24.4 (10.5)

24.4 (6.7)

26.4 (11.8)

26.0 (16.6)