| Summary: | 碩士 === 中山醫學大學 === 護理學系碩士班 === 102 === Background: World Health Organization estimates that in 2025 the world''s elderly population will exceed 1.2 billion. Age-related chronic illnesses are closely linked with physical inactivity and overeating. They can be controlled by increasing physical activities and caloric restriction. Some studies show that exercising frequently will increase the sense of well-being for the elderly and suggest them to take regular exercise step by step according to their physical condition.
Aim: The purpose of this study is to explore the influence upon the physical fitness of the elderly with chronic disease in a community in central Taiwan with a twelve-week of regular brisk walking.
Materials and Methods: The study is conducted by using quasi-experimental design and purposive sampling, a total of 66 elderly with chronic diseases were recruited for two physical fitness tests between September, 2013 and April, 2014. The elderly were divided into two groups, the experimental group of 34 people and the control group of 32 people. The intervention of the experimental group lasted for 12 weeks with regular brisk walking for 30 minutes at least five times per week or 150 minutes per week within 12 weeks, whereas the control group maintains their regular daily activities. Data collection from multiple variables was conducted using questionnaire and examination on functional fitness (grip , chair-stand test, two-min step test, back scratch test, 8-foot up-and-go test and chair sit-and-reach test). SPSS 19.0 for data analysis was carried out by frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, paired-samples t test, and General Linear Model-Univariate.
Result: The experimental group shows significant improvement in 2-min step test and chair sit-and reach test(p < .05). They have improved 16.61 steps in the 2-min step test and 1 cm in chair sit-and reach test. However, other physical fitness tests show no significant changes. The control group reveals deteriorated result in grip (less than 1.26kg) and back scratch test (distance of 2.92 cm). After adjusting the gender and education level, the experimental group has more improvement in 2-min step test. Back scratch test shows that the control group has been seriously deteriorating . Among other tests, there is no significant difference.
Conclusion: The physical fitness of the elderly with chronic diseases and the effect of regular exercise and healthy life style are closely related. Brisk-walk, in particular, can lessen the impact of aging caused by physical deterioration on the elderly. We expect this study to encourage people to devote more time in improving their physical fitness at any stage of their life and hope that the government can include brisk walking in our regular health promotion program.
|
|---|
