The effect of an exercise program on the health-quality of life in older adults. A randomized controlled trial

An essential public health goal is to reduce age-related disabilities in the elderly. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise program on-health-quality of life (HQL) in older adults.

Subjects were sixty healthy adult volunteers over the age of 55 years. None of the subjects had any experience in exercise programs but were physically active and able to perform activities of daily living independently. The subjects were randomly assigned into one of two groups each with 30 people: test (exercise) group and control (no exercise) group. The test group was taken into a 12-week aerobic exercise program. The exercises included a 5-10 minute circulatory warm-up, a 15 minute walking and a 5-10 minute stretching/cool-down period. The exercises were performed three times per week under supervision of an experienced instructor. No exercise program was prescribed for the control group. Both groups were assessed before and after the exercise program. The LEIPAD questionnaire was used to measure HQL.

The results showed significant improvements in all domains of the LEIPAD questionnaire whilst the level of HQL did not change and none of the scores obtained by the LEIPAD were significant. Measures of HQL improved with exercise so that there were no HQL changes in the control but significant changes were observed in the exercise group.

This study suggests that an exercise program has resulted in a significant improvement in HQL in older adults.