Physical performance in recently aged adults after 6 weeks traditional Thai dance: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundExercise has been shown to be effective in cardiovascular endurance in the elderly. We studied the effect of Thai dancing on physical performance of Thai elderly.MethodsThis was an open-labeled, randomized intervention study. The Thai dancing group exercised for 40 minutes three times a week for 6 weeks. Physical performance ability was the primary outcome, including a 6-minute walk test (6MWT), five-times sit-to-stand (FTSST), and a sit-and-reach test measured before and after 6 weeks of intervention.ResultsThere were 42 subjects enrolled in the study, and 38 female subjects completed (20 in Thai dance group, 18 controls), with an average age of 65.8 ± 5.1 years. The Thai dance group had significantly better physical performance in all measurements at the end of the study. The 6MWT was longer (416.7 ± 58.7 versus 345.7 ± 55.1 m; P = 0.011), FTSST was quicker (10.2 ± 1.5 versus 14.4 ± 3.3 seconds; P < 0.001), and flexibility was higher (14.9 ± 3.5 versus 11.1 ± 5.7 cm; P = 0.002) in the Thai dance group than the control group.ConclusionThai dance can improve physical performance in recently aged (elderly) female adults.

A comparison of dance interventions in people with Parkinson disease and older adults

“…Fewer studies focus on Latin dance, including tango [19] and salsa [20], compared to the PD literature. Researchers have also examined the impacts of traditional and folkloristic dance, including Greek [21], Caribbean [22], and Thai [23] traditional dance, as well as Turkish Folkloristic dance [24]. Aerobic [25–27], ballroom [28–30], line [31], creative [32], contemporary [33, 34], and video game based [35] dance programs have also been evaluated.…”

“…Six of the twenty research studies in older adults included only women [23–26, 31, 38]. Even in some studies that included men, 80–99% of participants were women [27, 28, 34, 35].…”

“…Studies on dance in older adults included similar short-term interventions of 10–13 weeks [19, 21, 22, 25–28, 30–32, 38], although some were as short as four [33], six [23, 37] or eight weeks [20, 24]. A few studies in PD have investigated longer intervention periods of six months [18], twelve months [16], or as long as two years [17].…”

“…The 6WMT also improved in older adults after Turkish Folkloristic [24], traditional Thai [23], or aerobic dance [27]. Increases in aerobic power were also detected in a two minute step test after ballroom dance [28] and in the half mile walk test after aerobic dance, compared to controls [25].…”

“…In older adults, sit and reach task performance improved more after ballroom [28] and traditional Thai dance [23]. Mixed results were observed for aerobic dance, with improvements [25] or no changes [27] reported.…”