Effect of a home-based exercise program on elderly women's health

Abstract

[Purpose] This study's purpose was to determine the effects of a home-based exercise program on functional fitness and total cholesterol in elderly women. [Methods] Twenty-two elderly women were divided into an exercise group (12 females; average age: 71.00 years; average height: 151.75 cm; average weight: 55.05 kg) and a control group (10 females; average age: 72.42; average height: 149.71 cm; average weight: 58.14 kg) and the exercise group performed a home-based exercise program three times per week for 8 weeks. For the exercise program, a 10-minute warm-up, 40-minute main exercise, and 10-minute cool-down were conducted. Functional fitness (upper extremity muscle strength, lower extremity muscle strength, upper extremity flexibility, lower extremity flexibility, static balance, and cardiorespiratory endurance) and total cholesterol were measured prior to and after the exercise intervention. [Results] The exercise group, which performed the home-based exercise program, showed improvements in their upper and lower extremity muscle strengths, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory endurance. On the other hand, the upper extremity flexibility, static balance, and cardiorespiratory endurance of the control group decreased. There were no significant changes in total cholesterol in either group. [Conclusion] Proper guidance is necessary to ensure elderly people continue to exercise independently after an exercise program ends, since it is important for elderly people in the local community to engage in exercise on their own, even if it only consists of simple exercises.