Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Aging Clin Exp Res DOI 10.1007/s40520-016-0715-2 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The “Sarcopenia and Physical fRailty IN older people: multi- componenT Treatment strategies” (SPRINTT) randomized controlled trial: design and methods Francesco Landi 1  · Matteo Cesari 2,3  · Riccardo Calvani 1  · Antonio Cherubini 4  · Mauro Di Bari 5,6  · Raphael Bejuit 7  · Jerome Mshid 7  · Sandrine Andrieu 8,9  · Alan J. Sinclair 10  · Cornel C. Sieber 11  · Bruno Vellas 2  · Eva Topinkova 12  · Timo Strandberg 13,14,15  · Leocadio Rodriguez-Manas 16  · Fabrizia Lattanzio 4  · Marco Pahor 17  · Ronenn Roubenof 18  · Alfonso J. Cruz-Jentoft 19  · Roberto Bernabei 1  · Emanuele Marzetti 1  · on behalf of the SPRINTT Consortium Received: 12 July 2016 / Accepted: 11 October 2016 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 overt disability. For this reason, the Sarcopenia and Physi- cal fRailty IN older people: multi-componenT Treatment strategies (SPRINTT) project is conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test a multicomponent interven- tion (MCI) specifcally designed to prevent mobility dis- ability in high-risk older persons. SPRINTT is a phase III, multicenter RCT aimed at comparing the efcacy of a MCI, based on long-term structured physical activity, nutritional counseling/dietary intervention, and an informa- tion and communication technology intervention, versus a healthy aging lifestyle education program designed to Abstract The sustainability of health and social care sys- tems is threatened by a growing population of older per- sons with heterogeneous needs related to multimorbidity, frailty, and increased risk of functional impairment. Since disability is difcult to reverse in old age and is extremely burdensome for individuals and society, novel strategies should be devised to preserve adequate levels of function and independence in late life. The development of mobil- ity disability, an early event in the disablement process, precedes and predicts more severe forms of inability. Its prevention is, therefore, critical to impede the transition to * Francesco Landi francesco.landi@rm.unicatt.it * Emanuele Marzetti emarzetti@live.com 1 Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy 2 Gérontopôle, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France 3 Université de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France 4 Geriatrics and Geriatric Emergency Care, IRCCS-INRCA, Ancona, Italy 5 Research Unit of Medicine of Aging, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy 6 Division of Geriatric Cardiology and Medicine, Department of Geriatrics and Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliero- Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy 7 Sanof R&D, Paris, Chilly-Mazarin, France 8 INSERM-Toulouse University UMR1027, Toulouse, France 9 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, CHU Toulouse, Toulouse, France 10 Foundation for Diabetes Research in Older People, Diabetes Frail Ltd, Droitwich Spa, UK 11 Institute for Biomedicine of Aging, Friedrich-Alexander University, Nuremberg, Germany 12 Department of Geriatrics, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 13 Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland 14 Clinics of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland 15 Unit of General Practice, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland 16 Service of Geriatrics, Getafe University Hospital, Madrid, Spain 17 Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA 18 Global Translational Medicine, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland 19 Geriatric Department, University Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain