Impact of 12 weeks of physiotherapy-led integrated care of older people on intrinsic capacity and quality of life among community-dwelling older adults: a randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of a Physiotherapy-led, Person-Centred Integrated Care (PTICOPE) programme on intrinsic capacity (IC) (locomotion, vitality, psychological, cognitive, vision, hearing), and quality of life (QoL) among community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: Seventy-one older adults were randomised to PTICOPE (n = 35) or control health education (n = 36) for 12 weeks. PTICOPE included centre-based physiotherapy and home-based multidomain activities targeting all IC domains. IC was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery, Mini-Mental State Examination, Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form, Geriatric Depression Scale-15, Snellen acuity, and whispered-voice test at baseline and Weeks 4, 8, and 12. QoL was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version at baseline and Week 12. Primary analyses used intention-to-treat linear mixed-effects models adjusting for baseline values and education level. Per-protocol analyses included participants attending ≥10 sessions. RESULTS: PTICOPE improved locomotion (0.87; P = .030; ηp2 = 0.13), with smaller significant gains in vitality (0.67; P = .014; ηp2 = 0.09) and cognition (1.09; P = .035; ηp2 = 0.01). Changes in the psychological, visual, and auditory domains were not clinically meaningful. QoL improved across all domains: physical health (+6.2), psychological (+4.9), social relationships (+4.0), and environment (+4.1), all P < .001 with medium-to-large effect sizes. Sensitivity analyses confirmed similar patterns. CONCLUSIONS: PTICOPE enhanced key IC domains, locomotion, vitality, and cognition, and produced meaningful improvements in QoL. These findings support physiotherapy-led, person-centred care as an effective community strategy for healthy ageing. TRIALS REGISTRATION: Thai Clinical Trials (Number: TCTR20241029007).