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The effect of exercise on loneliness and the life expectancy of older women
Poster Presentation
Paper ID : 1585-11THCONF
Authors
1Imam Reza University
2associate proffessor
3Asrar St., Daneshgah St., Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
4Imamreza international university
Abstract
Introduction: According to report of the World Health Organization, the number of older people in Iran have been dramatically increased and their serious issues will be the important problems in the future. Loneliness is one of the most important issues among these kind of people. Old people experience loneliness for various reasons, such as their physical defects, loss of relatives and lack of communication. On the other hand, another consequence of the elderly is the decline of life expectancy. Healthy aging is the right of all human beings, and it will be increased the importance of the aging phenomenon and prevented elderly problems. Therefore, there is a need for extensive and effective studies on issues related to the aging population. Thus, the present study has investigated the effect of exercise on loneliness and life expectancy of elderly women.
Methodology: The research population is consisted of elderly women which are over 65 years old, can exercise physically and live in the Mashhad nursing homes. As research sample, sixteen people were randomly assigned for experimental group and sixteen people for control group. The experimental group participated in selective elderly exercises (3 times per week and 45 minutes each session) for 8-weeks. For data collection, Russell's loneliness questionnaire and Schneider's life expectancy questionnaire were used. Finally, the collected data were analyzed in two sections of descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and frequency of data) and inferential statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, t-two test of dependent groups).
Results: The results of the study showed that, there was no significant difference in loneliness before and after exercise in the elderly, but there was a significant difference in the life expectancy variable between the two groups of experimental and control. Mean life expectancy increased in the experimental group, but it declined in control group.
Discussion: The results showed that average loneliness has been decreased and average life expectancy has been increased after exercise, it means that exercise had a positive effect on reducing loneliness and increasing the life expectancy of older women. Therefore, the selected sport exercises have had a significant impact on the loneliness and life expectancy of elderly women. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the increased sense of loneliness and its consequences and to increase the life expectancy by activating this group of people.
Methodology: The research population is consisted of elderly women which are over 65 years old, can exercise physically and live in the Mashhad nursing homes. As research sample, sixteen people were randomly assigned for experimental group and sixteen people for control group. The experimental group participated in selective elderly exercises (3 times per week and 45 minutes each session) for 8-weeks. For data collection, Russell's loneliness questionnaire and Schneider's life expectancy questionnaire were used. Finally, the collected data were analyzed in two sections of descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and frequency of data) and inferential statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, t-two test of dependent groups).
Results: The results of the study showed that, there was no significant difference in loneliness before and after exercise in the elderly, but there was a significant difference in the life expectancy variable between the two groups of experimental and control. Mean life expectancy increased in the experimental group, but it declined in control group.
Discussion: The results showed that average loneliness has been decreased and average life expectancy has been increased after exercise, it means that exercise had a positive effect on reducing loneliness and increasing the life expectancy of older women. Therefore, the selected sport exercises have had a significant impact on the loneliness and life expectancy of elderly women. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the increased sense of loneliness and its consequences and to increase the life expectancy by activating this group of people.
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