Effects of dance on the postural balance, cognition and functional autonomy of older adults

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the postural balance, cognition and functional autonomy of older adults with dementia, who are long-stay inpatients, subjected to ballroom dancing. Method: simple randomized clinical study. Older adult sample: control group (30) and experimental group (30). The groups were subjected to the protocol of functional autonomy for activities of daily living; to the assessment of cognition (mini-mental state examination); and to the analysis of postural balance (stabilometric and postural platforms). The analysis of variance with repeated measures for group and time factors, and Scheffé’s post hoc test were used, with significance of p < 0.05. Results: For the mini-mental state examination, the control group presented a 24.27 mean, and the experimental 22.75. Functional autonomy for activities of daily living – experimental: 54.47 ± 7.24 (p < 0.0001) x control: 61.77 ± 8.47 (p = 0.011). Postural balance – experimental: X = 3.16 ± 3.44 (p = 0.02) x control = X = 6.30 ± 7.62 (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Ballroom dancing can be recommended for older adults to provide improvement in their balance and motor performance of the activities of daily living.

摘要
目的：评估长期住院的痴呆老年患者接受交谊舞训练后的姿势平衡（postural balance）、认知功能（cognition）与日常活动功能自主性（functional autonomy）。
方法：采用简单随机临床研究设计。研究样本分为对照组（30例）与实验组（30例）。两组均接受日常活动（activities of daily living）功能自主性训练方案；采用简易精神状态检查表（mini-mental state examination）评估认知功能；采用姿势稳定平台（stabilometric and postural platforms）分析姿势平衡。统计分析采用针对分组与时间因素的重复测量方差分析（analysis of variance with repeated measures），结合Scheffé 事后检验（Scheffé’s post hoc test），检验水准设定为p<0.05。
结果：简易精神状态检查表得分方面，对照组平均得分为24.27，实验组为22.75。日常活动功能自主性指标：实验组为54.47±7.24（p<0.0001），对照组为61.77±8.47（p=0.011）。姿势平衡指标：实验组均值为3.16±3.44（p=0.02），对照组均值为6.30±7.62（p=0.04）。
结论：可推荐交谊舞应用于老年群体，以改善其姿势平衡能力与日常活动的运动表现。