Inga Muntianaitė, Fausta Blužaitė, Jurga Indriūnienė, Ramunė Žilinskienė, Akvilė Nainaitė
Abstract
The purpose of the research is to establish impact of applied physical activities based by balance and coordination exercises on functional performance and cognitive functions in elderly. Participants in research: Forty older adults took part in the research. The average age of participants was initially 71,6 ± 6,9 years. Participants were devided into two groups: study group – gymnastic exercises group (n = 20, age 71,35 ± 6,52 years) and control group – people without gymnastic exercises (n = 20, 73,55 ± 5,47 years). The methods of research: short physical performance battery; 5 words test; trail making test; six item cognitive impairment test; the cognitive failures questionnaire. Results and conclusions. The results of functional performance in experimental group has increased more (p<0,05) than in control group after balance and coordination training: at the end of the reasearch the total score of Short Physical Performance Bartery in experimental group was 11,80 ± 1,06 score, in control group – 8,95 ± 1,15 score (p<0,05). The results of objective and subjective cognitive functions in experimental group has increased statistically significantly more than in control group; the results of short-term memory and long-term memory were better in experimental group than in control group (p<0,05) in the end of the research. The results of Trail Making Test in experimental gruop has increased during the research (p<0,05), however no significantly differences was found between groups. The findings demonstrate that applied physical activity program, prepared for balance and coordination training, positively affects functional capasity and cognitive functions in elderly.
Keyword(s): older people; balance and coordination exercises; functional performance; cognitive functions.
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2016.043
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