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Age: Elder Adults Top of Page
Journal Article
The influence of physical exercise on depressive symptoms and functional fitness in elderly residents of south Brazil.
Justino Borges L, Bertoldo Benedetti TR, Zarpellon Mazo G. Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontol 2010; ePub(ePub): ePub.
Affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brasil; Agência de Fomento à Pesquisa Brasileira Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Ensino Superior (CAPES), Brasilia, Brasil.
DOI: 10.1016/j.regg.2009.12.004     What is this?
PMID: 20206416
(Copyright © 2010, Sociedad Espanola De Gerontologia Y Geriatriia)
INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of physical exercise on depressive symptoms and functional fitness in a sample of elderly people enrolled in a physical exercise program run by public sector Health Centers in Florianópolis, Brazil. METHODS: The sample comprised a total of 118 elderly people (101 women and 17 men), who had been receiving treatment for up to 1 year and 4 months and were assessed at predefined intervals, up to a maximum of five times. Evaluations were carried out using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15); International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the physical test battery proposed by AAHPERD (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance). RESULTS: A tendency for depression scores to reduce was observed. However, a statistically significant difference (p=0.008) was only detected among those elderly people who attended 75% or more of the treatment sessions. Analysis demonstrated that the tendency for overall mean functional fitness to increase was statistically significant (p<0.001). Inverse relationships were detected between functional fitness and depression scores at five assessment (r=-0.235, p=0.059; r=-0.206, p=0.099; r=-0.158, p=0.110; r=-0.068, p=0.565), although only one assessment had statistical significance (r=-0.226, p=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated a positive effect from physical exercise in reducing depressive symptoms and improving functional fitness, suggesting that there is an inverse relationship between these variables.

Language: Spa

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