ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2020
Physical Activity Intervention for Loneliness (PAIL) in community-dwelling older adults: a randomised feasibility study.
Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03458793 (Physical Activity Intervention for Loneliness), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Physical Activity Intervention for Loneliness (PAIL) in Community-dwelling Older Adults: a Feasibility Study
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Community-based interventions to support aging in place and functional independence in older adults: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Interventions to improve social connections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions simultaneously promoting social participation and physical activity in community living older adults: A systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Walking for hypertension.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Outdoor Exercise Facility-Based Integrative Mobile Health Intervention to Support Physical Activity, Mental Well-Being, and Exercise Self-Efficacy Among Older Adults With Prefrailty and Frailty in Hong Kong: Pilot Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- The impact of loneliness and social isolation on the benefits of an exercise program with hospitalised older adults.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2024Trial
- Reward Deficits in Co-Occurring Social Anxiety and Depression: The Roles of Anhedonia, Boredom, Loneliness, and COVID-19 Social Restriction.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- Use of Computer Vision with Conventional Video Recordings of Gait in Older Adults: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- From exercise dose to social dose: a narrative review of the components, mechanisms, and design principles of group-based physical activity interventions to reduce loneliness.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Development and Evaluation of a Community Health Program to Promote Physical Activity Among Vulnerable Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Protocol for a Prospective Cohort Study.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- A Machine-Learning-Based Analysis of the Relationships between Loneliness Metrics and Mobility Patterns for Elderly.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study on the Cross-Talk of the COVID-19-Related Degree of Loneliness and the Etiological Factors Among the Elderly in Central China.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLow quality social relationships in older adults are strongly associated with feelings of loneliness. Physical activity interventions could reduce loneliness and improve psychological well-being, among other health benefits. The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of a Physical Activity Intervention for Loneliness (PAIL) in community-dwelling older adults at risk of loneliness.
methodsThe PAIL feasibility study was a 12-week randomized controlled feasibility trial (RCT) conducted in Birmingham, United Kingdom, from February 2018 to August 2018, and ran in two waves of data collection. Eligible participants were community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older, sedentary (less than 20 min of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) a week), and at risk of loneliness. The intervention included once-weekly group walk and health education workshop up to 90 min per session in total, with a wait-listed (WL) control group. The primary feasibility outcomes were to estimate recruitment, retention rates and adherence to the intervention. Secondary outcome measures (not blinded assessment) were body mass index, blood pressure, physical activity and psychosocial variables. Process and outcome evaluations were conducted using focus groups interviews. The recruitment and retention progression criteria for the definitive large-scale RCT was set a-priori.
resultsForty-eight participants were recruited over 4 months with a recruitment rate of 25% (48/195); 52% (25/48) met the inclusion criteria and 100% (25/25) were randomised into the intervention (
conclusionsThe findings suggest that community-dwelling older adults at risk of loneliness found the intervention and measures acceptable and could safely participate. However, a more extensive and robust strategy would be needed to support adequate recruitment of lonely older adults and adherence into a definitive RCT.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT03458793.
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