Quality-of-life perception in elderly women who practice and do not practice the Pilates’ method

Abstract Background The aging process causes a reduction of the physical function, allowing the individual to have a decrease in the perception of the quality of life. Therefore, regular physical activity can be a favorable factor for a better perception of quality of life. Objective The aim of this study was to compare the quality-of-life perception of elderly women practitioners and non-practitioners of the Pilates’ method. Method divided into three exercise type groups and two age groups: 60-64.9 and 70-74.9 years. The exercise type groups were as follows: Pilates’ method practitioners (n=60), gymnastics practitioners (n=63), and non-practitioners of regular physical activity (n=62). The WHOQOL-OLD and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires were applied to evaluate the quality-of-life perception. Statistics: The Shapiro-Wilk test verified the data distribution and comparative analysis was conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test with Mann-Whitney Post-Hoc and Bonferroni correction. All analyses were processed using the SPSS software at 5% significance level (p<0.05). Results For 60-64.9-year-old group assessed by the WHOQOL-OLD questionnaire, the non-practitioners of regular physical activity showed better perception in the social participation domain than that of the gymnastic practitioners. For 70-74.9-year-old group assessed by the same instrument, the Pilates’ method practitioners showed the best perception in most of the quality-of-life domains. Conclusion Elderly women practitioners of the Pilates’ method obtained the highest scores in most of the quality-of-life domains for the 70-74.9-year-old group.

## 摘要
### 背景
衰老过程会导致躯体功能减退，进而使个体的生活质量感知水平下降。因此，规律体育运动可成为改善生活质量感知的有利因素。
### 目的
本研究旨在对比练习普拉提（Pilates）的老年女性与非练习者的生活质量感知水平。
### 方法
研究对象被分为3个运动类型组与2个年龄组：60~64.9岁组及70~74.9岁组。运动类型组具体如下：普拉提练习组（n=60）、体操练习组（n=63）以及规律体育活动非练习组（n=62）。采用世界卫生组织老年生活质量量表（WHOQOL-OLD）与世界卫生组织生活质量简表（WHOQOL-BREF）评估受试者的生活质量感知水平。
### 统计学分析
采用夏皮罗-威尔克（Shapiro-Wilk）检验验证数据分布情况，使用克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯（Kruskal-Wallis）检验结合曼-惠特尼（Mann-Whitney）事后检验与邦费罗尼（Bonferroni）校正开展比较分析。所有分析均通过SPSS软件完成，检验水准设定为5%（p<0.05）。
### 结果
在采用世界卫生组织老年生活质量量表（WHOQOL-OLD）评估的60~64.9岁年龄组中，规律体育活动非练习者在社会参与领域的生活质量感知表现优于体操练习者。在采用同一量表评估的70~74.9岁年龄组中，普拉提练习者在多数生活质量领域的感知得分均为最高。
### 结论
对于70~74.9岁年龄组的老年女性而言，练习普拉提者在多数生活质量领域的得分最高。