Six Minutes of Physical Activity Improves Mood in Older Adults: A Pilot Study

The purposes of this study were to examine (1) differences in mood and motivation among older adults after the completion of 6 minutes of self-paced walking (6MW) and (2) the relationship between pace and magnitude of mood change.

Eleven participants completed 3 days of testing where energy, fatigue, tension, depression, confusion, mental and physical energy, and motivation to perform mental tasks were measured before and after the 6MW. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to examine changes in mood and motivation, and a bivariate Pearson correlation was used to determine relationships between pace and magnitude of changes in mood.

Faster pace was associated with significant improvements (P < .05) in fatigue, energy, tension, confusion, total mood disturbance, state mental fatigue, and state physical energy. A significant relationship was noted between pace and changes in energy, fatigue, state mental and physical energy, and fatigue in the expected direction.

Results indicate that mood is influenced by pace of the activity. Findings suggest that even 6 minutes of physical activity can improve moods, which may impact how physical therapists approach prescribing exercise to older adults.