Home-based walking improves cardiopulmonary function and health-related QOL in community-dwelling adults.
The objective of our study was to investigate the effects of a home-based walking program on physical fitness and QOL among community residents. Subjects (n = 200, mean age: 64.2 years, range: 42 - 75 years) who participated in the 32-week trial were randomly allocated to one of two groups: an exercise (E) group and a control (C) group. The E group was instructed to increase the number of steps a day that they walked and to perform aerobic walking at a target heart rate for 20 minutes or more daily, 2 or more days a week. The C group was told to continue their normal level of activity. Outcome measures were the 3-minute shuttle stamina walk test (SSWT), 30-second chair-stand test (CS-30), and SF-36. Increases in SSWT values were significantly greater in the E group than in the C group (men 24.1 m vs. 6.3 m; women 8.8 m vs. 2.4 m), as were increases in CS-30 values (men 5.9 vs. 2.6; women 4.5 vs. - 0.1). On the SF-36, the scores in the E group for vitality and mental health increased significantly. Home-based walking is considered to be an effective and feasible method to improve physical fitness and QOL among community residents.
Okamoto
N
N
Community Health and Epidemiology, Nara Medical University School of Medicine, Kashihara, Japan. onozomi@naramed-u.ac.jp
Nakatani
T
T
Morita
N
N
Saeki
K
K
Kurumatani
N
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*