Development of Combined Aquatic Exercise Program to
Improve Functional Fitness and Cognitive Function for Elderly with Mild Dementia.

Kang, Dong-Keun; Park, Jeong-Yeon; Jung, Joo-Ha; Park, Jung-Jun; Kang, Dong-Keun; Park, Jeong-Yeon; Jung, Joo-Ha; Park, Jung-Jun

doi:2015.24.4.415

Exerc Sci > Volume 24(4); 2015 > Article

Original Article

Exercise Science 2015;24(4): 415-423. doi: https://doi.org/10.15857/ksep.2015.24.4.415

경증치매노인의 기능적 체력 및 인지기능 향상을 위한 복합 수중운동프로그램 개발

강동근¹, 박정연², 정주하¹, 박정준¹

¹부산대학교 스포츠과학과
²동아대학교 체육학과

Development of Combined Aquatic Exercise Program to Improve Functional Fitness and Cognitive Function for Elderly with Mild Dementia.

Dong-Keun Kang¹, Jeong-Yeon Park², Joo-Ha Jung¹, Jung-Jun Park¹

Correspondence

Jung-Jun Park , Tel: +82-51-510-2713, Fax: +82-51-510-3746, Email: jjparkpnu@pusan.ac.kr

Received: October 20, 2015; Accepted: November 18, 2015. Published online: November 30, 2015.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE:
Aquatic exercise is popular among the elderly because its stress on joint is less compared to other exercises. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of combined aquatic exercise with music therapy, art therapy and learning therapy on improvements of functional fitness and cognitive function in elderly with mild dementia.
METHODS:
Twenty two women, aged 65 to 74, participated in this study. They were randomly divided into combined aquatic exercise group(CAEG, n=12) or normal aquatic exercise group(NAEG, n=10). Both group performed exercise 60 min/day, 3 days/week, for 16 weeks at the intensity of 10-13 RPE. The variables of funcional fitness test and CERAD-K's 10 task tests were used to measureed all the subjects. All data was analyzed by independent t-test, two-way repeated ANOVA and paired t-test by using SPSS 22.0.
RESULTS:
In the case of functional fitness, the CAEG improved significantly in 2 kg dumbbell curl, 2.44 m up-and go, 6-min walk and the NAEG improved 2 kg dumbbell curl, 2.44 m up-and go. In the case of cognitive function improved significantly all 10 task tests, while NAEG was no significant difference all 10 task tests.
CONCLUSIONS:
It is concluded that the effect of CAEG is superior to NAEG in improvements of functional fitness and cognitive function by increasing sense of sight, hearing, touching, memorizing. Thus, it suggests that combined aquatic exercise is an appropriate exercise, especially for elderly with mild dementia.

Key words: mild dementia, cognitive function, aquatic Exercise, functional fitness, elderly women