[A meta-analysis of the effect of walking exercise on lower limb muscle endurance, whole body endurance and upper body flexibility in elders].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine whether walking exercise improved physical function in elderly people using meta-analysis.


METHODS
Medical and nursing literature databases were searched to identify the studies on the effectiveness of walking exercise on physical function. In the databases, there were 16 articles reporting 21 interventions. Overall effect sizes for three outcome variables, elders' physical function in lower limb muscle endurance, whole body endurance and upper body flexibility, were calculated. Effects of study characteristics on outcome variables were analyzed.


RESULTS
The meta-analysis showed that walking exercise generally had positive effects on CST (chair stand test), 6MW (6 min walking), and SRT (standing or sitting reach test) with overall weighted effect sizes of 1.06, 0.41 and 0.29 respectively. This study also showed that the chronic disease status of the elders, intervention methods, and type of residence had different effects on CST, 6MW and SRT.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that walking exercise improves physical function in elders. Walking exercise which can be done at any time and any location is indeed a very effective exercise for elderly people.
Nursing Informatics and Statistics Laboratory, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Kook Hee
KH
Roh
Hyeoun Ae
HA
Park
D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D016138:Walking
Aged; Exercise; Meta-analysis; Walking