Effect of watching professional baseball at a stadium on health‐related outcomes among Japanese older adults: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Aim Watching sports at stadiums can have a favorable impact on health‐related outcomes in older adults. We examined the effect of watching professional baseball at a ballpark on older adults’ health‐related outcomes. Methods A total fo 58 participants aged 65–85 years were randomized into a spectator group (n = 29) and waiting‐list group (n = 29). During the 2‐month intervention, there were 21 games. The spectator group watched games at the ballpark, and the waiting‐list group maintained their daily routines. The health‐related outcomes were executive and cognitive functions, health‐related quality of life, depression symptoms, subjective happiness and physical activity. Results The median days watching baseball games in the spectator group was 6 days (interquartile range 4–10 days). Executive function using the reverse Stroop interference rate showed a non‐significant trend of improvement in the spectator group compared with the waiting‐list group (P = 0.063). The spectator group showed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms compared with the waiting‐list group (P = 0.016). Conclusions Regularly watching professional baseball at a ballpark reduced older adults’ depression symptoms. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 717–722.

Watching sports and depressive symptoms among older adults: a cross-sectional study from the JAGES 2019 survey

“…The results presented herein support the findings of an intervention study that encouraged older adults to watch professional baseball games on-site 5 . In the aforementioned study, 29 older adults in the intervention group watched professional baseball games for a median of six times during the two-month intervention period, with the intervention group having significantly greater relief in depressive symptoms than the control group.…”

“…In the aforementioned study, 29 older adults in the intervention group watched professional baseball games for a median of six times during the two-month intervention period, with the intervention group having significantly greater relief in depressive symptoms than the control group. The authors of the study inferred that depressive symptoms could be alleviated through the excitement and happiness induced by watching the performance of skilled professional athletes in a stadium environment that differs from everyday life 5 . The present study, on the other hand, evaluated not only watching professional sports at a stadium but also local sports activities.…”

“…Intervention studies on older adults have shown that subjective happiness increased after watching a professional baseball game 4 and that depressive symptoms improved after 2 months of regularly watching baseball at a stadium 5 . Allowing older adults to attend a sports game on-site have also been found to increase their perceived emotional support from fans, leading to enhanced subjective wellbeing 5 . Despite the relatively small sample sizes (i.e., a few tens) and the pilot nature of the aforementioned studies, they showed that watching sports had a positive effect on the mental health of older adults.…”

“…To facilitate healthy aging among older adults, many studies in the fields of preventive medicine and public health have examined the relationship between sports/exercise activities and health outcomes, most of which have been in the context of "doing/playing" sports, exercise, or physical activity [1][2][3] . On the other hand, few reports have investigated the relationship between health status and "watching" sports 4,5 . The Second Sport Basic Plan established by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which forms the basis of policy on sports promotion in Japan, encourages people to have various relationships with sports by not only playing but also watching and supporting sports 6 .…”

Risk and psychological return: a moderating role of COVID-19 risk perception in the impact of team identification on vitality after sport spectatorship in Tokyo

“…Past studies have accumulated evidence regarding the impact of sport spectatorship on human well-being. For instance, a previous experimental study suggests that sport spectatorship at the stadium can increase individual well-being (Kawakami et al, 2019). Kawakami et al's research revealed that sport spectatorship at a baseball stadium in Japan during a two-month period increased elders' executive functioning and decreased depressive symptoms.…”