title: Health education programs may be as effective as exercise intervention on improving health-related quality of life among Japanese people over 65 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current study was aimed to examine the short-term effects of a 3-month health education program on health-related quality of life using the Short-Form 36.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five Japanese older people aged 65 and older in the health education program were compared with two historical control groups (n = 25 each) undertaking group and resistance exercise interventions and matched by age, sex and body mass index. A series of split-design two-way analyses of variance were conducted for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant improvements were observed in general health and vitality subscales of the Short-Form 36 in the educational program group. Multivariate analyses, adjusted for several confounding factors, revealed that the effects of the three programs were comparable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that a structured 3-month educational program may be as effective as exercise interventions in improving general health and vitality in a community-dwelling Japanese older population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Science and Social Welfare, Kibi International University, Okayama, Japan. ktamari@kiui.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamari
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Mitsuya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011788:Quality of Life