Effects of participatory research-based intervention on the improvement of lifestyles and sarcopenic parameters in young-old adults of rural areas of Tarragona province (Catalonia, Spain): A Cluster randomized, parallel, controlled study

To assess the effectiveness of a participatory-research (PR) intervention study on the improvement of lifestyles and sarcopenia parameters in the young-old population (60-74 years) from rural areas of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). A 3-month cluster-randomized, parallel, controlled PR intervention was implemented (ClinicalTrials: NCT05273502). Young-old adults of 15 villages of ≤2000 inhabitants from rural areas of Tarragona province participated (7 as intervention (n = 107, 86 women) and 8 as control (n = 82, 68 women). The intervention was co-created by participants and included activities to improve lifestyles and sarcopenia parameters. The control group (CG) did not receive any intervention. The main variable was sarcopenia parameters, and the secondary variables were lifestyles. Overall, physical function improved following the PR intervention, though muscle mass gains should be interpreted cautiously due to Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). Additionally, the PR intervention showed effectiveness in certain quality-of-life domains. These findings may inform future, longer-term studies using more precise assessment tools.