Comparison of Physical, Cognitive and Psychological Functions and their Effects on Exercise Habits between Young-old and Old-old

Abstract

We surveyed the influence of exercise habits on physical, cognitive and psychological functions in 96 young-old and 85 old-old community-dwelling subjects, and evaluated the association among these items. Physical, cognitive and psychological functions were compared by analysis of covariance with adjustment for age between with and without exercise habits. For the young-old group, physical functions (such as lower limb muscle strength and walking ability) and cognitive functions (such as intellectual function and attentional function) were significantly better in the group with exercise habits than in the group without, but in grip strength and psychological functions we could not find any significant differences. For the old-old group, physical functions, cognitive functions and psychological functions were significantly better in the group with exercise habits than in the group without. These results suggest an association between regular exercise and health promotion in old-old. ln particular, regular exercise may improve physical functions such as lower limb muscle strength and walking ability and inhibit an age-associated decrease in attentive function, which is usefu1 for the prevention of falling. Regular exercise, which may also have inhibitory effects on the development of dementia and increase the state of mental health, is expected to be an effective measure for care prevention.