title: Postural stability and physical performance in social dancers.
abstract: This cross-sectional study examined the benefits of social dancing on postural stability and physical performance in dancers aged 50 years or more. Walking speed, lower limb reaction time and low back flexibility were measured in 202 social dancers and 202 community-dwelling comparison subjects aged 50-87 years. The results showed that dancers who were older than 60 years had better postural stability and faster leg reaction times, whilst dancers aged 50-59 showed only better flexibility, when compared with the controls. Male dancers had greater low back flexibility and leg reaction time compared to controls. In contrast, female dancers had superior performance only for leg reaction time when compared with controls. The results indicate that social dancing is associated with enhanced postural stability and physical performance in older adults.
authors.affiliation: College of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Nanjing Normal University, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Guo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishikawa-Takata
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Takae
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohta
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003615:Dancing / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013909:Thorax / Q000502:physiology