Comparison of rhythmic and non-rhythmic aerobic exercises on depression and balance in the elderly

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects rhythmic and non-rhythmic aerobic exercises on depression and balance of healthy elderly people. Design: Randomized controled trial. Methods: Nineteen older subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups for rhythmic and non-rhythmic aerobic exercises. Both aerobic exercises consisted of functional movements such as turning in opposite directions, and running in place, the exercise consisted of movements that could activate balance. The rhythmic training group initially used music with 8 beats, and then later progressed to 16 beats. Additionally, we adjusted the pace of the music using songs from 125 beats per minute (bpm) to 160 bpm. Both groups were exercised for 50 minutes a day, twice a week, for a total of 8 weeks. We measured the condition of the patients before the intervention, and after 8 weeks of intervention. The Beck depression inventory (BDI) was used to measure the degree of depression. The Berg balance scale (BBS) was used to measure static and dynamic balance ability. We measured the subject's subjective balance confidence using the fall efficacy scale (FES). Results: Both groups showed significant improvement in BDI, BBS, and FES (p<0.05). The rhythmic aerobic exercise group showed a significant improvement only in the BBS change values compared to the non-rhythmic group (p<0.05). Conclusions: According to this study, both rhythmic and non-rhythmic aerobic exercises resulted in significant improvement in the degree of depression and balance ability of the elderly. The rhythmic aerobic exercise was more effective for dynamic balance ability.

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