Effects of Using a Lumbar-Type Hybrid Assistive Limb by Older Adults With Frailty on Exercise Self-Efficacy: Retrospective Analysis Based on the Kanagawa Prospective ME-BYO Cohort Study.

JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2026 · Other · PT
Makoto Nagasawa, Sho Nakamura, Yoshinobu Saito, Yuko Oguma, Takashi Kasukawa, Kaname Watanabe, Hiroto Narimatsu

A wearable hip-assist robot improved exercise confidence by 1.05 points (on a 4-item, 1-to-5 scale) among 96 frail older adults, with the largest gains in those who had never exercised regularly. The randomised comparison did not show a clear difference between groups.

Key findings

1

Among 96 frail older adults who completed lumbar-type HAL training, exercise self-efficacy increased by 1.05 points (95% CI 0.41–1.69; P = .002) from a baseline mean of 11.94 to 12.99 points.

2

In the randomised comparison, the HAL group (n=38) showed a mean ESE change of +1.16 points versus −0.05 points in the waitlist control group (n=38); the between-group difference of 1.21 points did not reach significance (P = .12).

3

Participants without an established exercise habit (stages 1–4, n=56) improved by 1.73 points, while those in the maintenance stage (n=38) changed by only 0.05 points; the between-stratum difference was +1.68 points (P = .01).

MethodologyResultsClinical Relevance

Single-blind randomized controlled trial. Sixty-four participants were randomized across two intervention arms and assessed at twelve weeks for the primary outcome…

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