運動訓練對社區老人憂鬱症狀、生活功能和生活品質的效果

Purpose: Depression is commonly seen in the community-dwelling elderly in Taiwan with a reported prevalence rate of 26%. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise training on depression symptoms, physical functions, and quality of life in the community- dwelling elderly. Method: A convenient sample of 24 elderly subjects living in the community aged 65 years or older was recruited and randomized into exercise group and control group. Participants in the exercise group received a progressive and structured, small-group comprehensive exercise training, including components of aerobic, resistance, and flexibility exercise, 3 times a week, 30-40 mm a session at intensity of 12-14 in rate of perceived exertion (RPE) for 8 weeks under supervision. Sandbag and/or theraband were used to adjust the training load. All subjects were assessed by Taiwanese Geriatric Depression Scale (TGDS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GAPS), and short-form 36 (SF-36) at baseline and 8 weeks after. In addition, tests of 30-second chair sit-to-stand (STS), timed up and go (TUG), and six-minute walk (6MW) were used to evaluate their physical function status. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to investigate the effects of time and exercise intervention on the variables of interest. The intention-to-treat principle was applied in data analysis. Relationships between the changes of each variable were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Compared to the control group, subjects in the exercise groups improved in the STS performance (p＜0.05). Significant changes within group included the increase in 6MW distance in the exercise group and the decrease in the performance of STS in the control group. No other significant within-or between-group differences were found. Changes in MMSE were significantly related to the changes in TUG and 6MW in addition to the significant correlation between changes in TUG and 6MW. Conclusion: The community-dwelling elderly can benefit from an 8-week exercise training program in small groups with improvements mainly in repeated sit-to-stand physical function test and no obvious changes in emotion, cognition and quality of life dimensions were found in this study.