Effect of 8-Week of Selected Aerobic Exercise on Static and Dynamic Balance in Healthy Elderly Inactive Men

oleh: Masoud Mirmoezzi, Mojtaba Amini, Asghar Khaledan, Davood Khorshidi

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: University of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation Sciences 2016-04-01

Deskripsi

Objectives: Old age refers to years near or passed the middle age and therefore, near to the end of life&nbsp;cycle. Old-aged people have limited reviving capability and are more at risk of catching diseases, syndromes,&nbsp;and ailments. Falling is one of the most common problems in the elderly that occur due to their&nbsp;inability to maintain balance. This study aimed to examine the effect of aerobic exercises on static and&nbsp;dynamic balance in healthy elderly inactive men. Methods & Materials:&nbsp;This quasi-experimental research was done in older people living in a nursing home&nbsp;in Qazvin, Iran. The study population included 200 elderly men (65-75 years old); of them, 26 healthy,&nbsp;inactive men were randomly selected and assigned to the experimental (13 subjects) and control (13&nbsp;subjects) groups. The experimental group participated in selected exercise programs for 8 weeks. We&nbsp;used personal information questionnaire to check the inclusion criteria that comprised independency in&nbsp;doing daily chores, lack of problems in vision or fall during the last year, and not having joints dislocation,&nbsp;chronic arthritis or vertigo. In the case of having these problems, the subjects were excluded from the&nbsp;study. Stork balance test and Timed Up and Go test were used to measure the static and dynamic balance&nbsp;of subjects before the initiation and after the termination of the program. The statistical analyses&nbsp;were done by paired and independent t-tests. Results: The results of independent t-test did not indicate any significant differences between 2 groups&nbsp;with regard to age, height, and weight (P>0.05). Homogeneity was observed in the 2 groups with respect&nbsp;to individual features affecting balance and walking. After performing the aerobic exercise program, the&nbsp;dynamic balance in the experimental group increased significantly (P<0.001). In the dynamic balance&nbsp;test, the lower mean time supported the better execution of the test, and significant changes were&nbsp;observed in the experimental group. The comparison of the two groups indicated the positive effect of aerobic exercise on the dynamic balance of healthy older people; however, no significant change was&nbsp;seen in static balance (P=0.36). Since we used Stork test for determining static balance, the higher mean&nbsp;time supported the positive effect but with no significant change in the static balance of experimental&nbsp;group after 8 weeks. We found that different factors like lower extremity muscles such as soleus, gastrocnemius,&nbsp;and hamstring have some roles in keeping static balance, and as the exercise protocol was&nbsp;related to aerobic exercise (walking and jogging), it did not reinforce these muscles. Conclusion: Our results showed that regular aerobic exercise improves dynamic balance in elderly men.&nbsp;We also found that jogging and walking improved dynamic balance. The improvement in balance may be&nbsp;due to the increase in nervous compatibility (due to exercise); increase in fitness, strength, and motion&nbsp;domain; improvement in aerobic status, response time and mental status; improvement in neuromuscular&nbsp;control, including a decrease in changing movement units; and improvement in simultaneous movement&nbsp;units. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between body composition and movement&nbsp;with balance. Therefore, regular aerobic activities are recommended as a suitable training method for&nbsp;improving balance.