The University of Vic leads the final phases of the EFICIS study to maintain intrinsic capacity in people over 70 years of age

The fact that most people have multiple illnesses has led the WHO to promote a change in the model of care for people, moving from one based on health problems to one based on the person’s capabilities, defining intrinsic capacity (IC) as “the combination of all the physical and mental capacities that a person has”. To this end, it has developed the ICOPE strategy, designed mainly for older people with a high level of autonomy, which aims to detect problems in five domains —cognitive, motor, vitality (which addresses poor nutrition), psychological (which addresses depressive symptoms) and sensory— to find and treat the underlying causes and stop and prevent the progression of disability.

The EFICIS project is a randomized clinical trial whose main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the AMICOPE multicomponent intervention in improving and/or maintaining intrinsic capacity in a sample of 212 people over 70 years of age living in the community and who have some loss in the domains of mobility, nutrition or psychology. The intervention, which is carried out in a group over 12 weeks, includes structured and adapted physical activity, guidelines for improving nutrition and dynamics that promote social support and address loneliness, social isolation and depressive symptoms.

The intervention has been carried out in different towns in Catalonia (Seu d’Urgell, Puigcerdà, Gironella, Ripoll, Tortosa) and the principality of Andorra (Andorra la Vella, Escaldes-Engordany and La Massana). The last interventions of the study will be carried out in Vic with the collaboration of different health and community entities.

The EFICIS project received initial funding of €76,230.00 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in the 2021 call for applications for the Strategic Health Action (AES), in the “Health Research Projects” category. The study began in 2022 at the UAB Health and Aging Foundation. Since the end of 2024, IRIS-CC has been the institution managing the study and the University of Vic has been its implementation center. The project will end on June 30, 2026.

 

 project team:
  • Sergi Blancafort (PI). Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Community Health. Faculty of Health and Welfare Sciences. University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia.
  • Cristina Vaqué Crusellas. Dietitian-nutritionist. Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Community Health
  • Patricia Lizett Vilca Salazar. Dietitian-nutritionist. PhD student at the University of Vic.
  • Júlia Ferrés Cortés: Occupational therapist. Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Community Health. Faculty of Health and Welfare Sciences. University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia.
  • Marc Balagueró: Dietitian-nutritionist. Nursing student at the University of Vic.
  • Laura Barniol: Dietitian-nutritionist. Osona Primary Care Center.