The purpose of this study was to develop and examine the effects of combined exercise program for older adults with sarcopenia based on transtheoretical model (TTM).

A non-equivalent control group with a pretest-posttest design was used. The subjects consisted of 43 older adults with sarcopenia in precontemplation stage, contemplation stage and preparation stage of TTM (experimental group: 22, control group: 21). The developed program consisted of 36 sessions for 12 weeks including combined exercise (60 minutes) and TTM based strategies for enhancing exercise behavior (10 minutes) per session. Data were collected before, immediately after the program between July 31 to October 27, 2017. The data were analyzed using independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test with SPSS/WIN 18.0.

Compared with their counterparts in the control groups, older adults with sarcopenia in the experimental group showed a significantly greater improvement in process of exercise behavior change, pros and cons of decisional balance for exercise behavior, exercise self-efficacy, parameters of muscle, and the level of physical performance.

The study findings indicate that this combined exercise program for older adults with sarcopenia based on TTM model was effective and can be recommended as a nursing intervention for older adults with sarcopenia.