Artikel
Investigation on the physical fitness of community dwelling elders with dementia
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Autoren
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Yi-Chun Chein
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Jui-Chi Hsu
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Jung-Cheng Yang
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Yi-Chen Tsai
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Chia-Chen Chou
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Hsiao-Yuan Lee
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Hsiao-Ting Tsai
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Wun-Hung Chen
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| Veröffentlicht: | 16. April 2019 |
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Gliederung
Text
Background: People with dementia experience a decline in physical fitness which affects their daily life [1]. Therefore identifying the area of decline in physical fitness and providing proper intervention is crucial in helping people with dementia to live a better life.
Aim: To investigate the physical fitness of community-dwelling elders with dementia and compare their performance with healthy elders.
Method: 22 participants with dementia (80.5±6.7 years old) were recruited, and 22 healthy elderly participants (79.0±5.3 years old) whom age matched the dementia participants were enrolled. All participants lived in the community, and their physical fitness was evaluated using 5 components from the Senior Fitness Test to look at their dynamic balance along with the strength and flexibility of both upper and lower limbs [2]. Statistical difference in data of the two populations was calculated using the independent-t test, with p<0.05 as statistically significant.
Results/findings: There were significant differences in lower limb strength (p=0.005) and dynamic balance (p=0.009) between the two populations, while significant differences were not found in upper limb strength, upper and lower limb flexibility.
Discussion and conclusions: Decreased lower limb strength and dynamic balance ability of the people with dementia was noted, possibly showing they are more vulnerable to fall down and experience a decrease in quality of life when compared to healthy adults. Given the findings in this study, exercise targeted to maintain or improve the lower limb strength and dynamic balance of people with dementia should be emphasized to help them live a healthy life.
References
- 1.
- Hesseberg K, Bergland A, Rydwik E, Brovold T. Physical Fitness in Older People Recently Diagnosed with Cognitive Impairment Compared to Older People Recently Discharged from Hospital. Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2016;6(3):396-406.
- 2.
- Hesseberg K, Bentzen H, Bergland A. Reliability of the senior fitness test in community-dwelling older people with cognitive impairment. Physiother Res Int. 2015;20(1):37-44.
