A Preliminary Study on the Efficacy of Functional Fitness Test for Elderly Population in Pingtung Area

• Main Authors: SHIUE,YU-JEN, 薛郁蓁
• Other Authors: TSENG,LI-HO
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/47538610452303391260

碩士 === 大仁科技大學 === 環境管理研究所 === 103 === Taiwan has become an aging society, and many of the research about senior citizens has shown that increasing their degree of physical activity is critical for slowing down their physiological and psychological degradation, and for maintaining their physical autonomy. It is known that importing a safe and effective physical exercise program, based on the functional fitness assessment for independence ability of seniors, can significantly improve the physical activities of seniors. Therefore, this study recruited senior subjects age over 65 from Pingtung area for seven functional fitness tests, which includ lower body muscular endurance ( 30-second chair stand), upper body muscular endurance (30-second arm curl), cardiopulmonary endurance (2-minute step test), upper body flexibility (back scratch), lower body flexibility (chair sit-and-reach), agility and dynamic balance (8-foot up-and-go), and balance (one-leg stance with eye-closed). The test results were used to assess the degree of functional fitness of seniors following our programed exercise in Pingtung area and to compare that with the result of average senior citizens throughout Taiwan. In addition, the basic personal information and the composite Physical Function scale by self-assessment were also collected by questionnaires for analysis. A total of 190 senior persons, including 91 male (age 73.7±6.8) and 99 female (age 72.1±6.1), participated in this study. The personal information questionnaires of senior participants collected in this study indicated that, among the participants, 79% seniors are suffering from chronic diseases, in which hypertension (62.3%) and cardiovascular diseases (27.8%) are the top two causes. Waistline of senior female averages 86.4±10.4 cm which exceeds the healthy 80 cm standard reported by the Health Promotion Administration. 90.0% participants were found to exercise regularly with walking (72.6%) accounted for the most popular exercise. Since seniors tend to spend lots of time watching TV at home, many of them have developed sedentary lifestyle. Judging from their Composite Physical Function scale, it is learned that the majority of senior citizens studied are capable of living independently, although many of them suffers from insufficient muscular endurance. In terms of functional fitness assessment, male seniors prevail over female seniors on upper and lower body muscular endurance, which was assessed by 30-second chair stand and 30-second arm curl. Besides, the male seniors also prevail on cardiopulmonary endurance which was assessed by 2-minute step test. On the other hand, the female seniors prevail on both upper and lower body flexibility, which was assessed by back scratch and chair sit-and-reach. It was noticed that the functional fitness of male seniors degrades sharply after age of 70. In comparison, female seniors displayed only age-associated, gradual loss in body flexibility before age 80. One thing of big concern is that, whereas the upper body muscular endurance for majority of seniors in Pingtung area exceeds that of the national average, the rest of the functional fitness scores of seniors in Pingtung area fall below the national average. Thus, this study recommends strongly importing effective exercise program to improve the functional fitness, as well as physical autonomy and sense of happiness, of the seniors in Pingtung area.