ABSTRACT

Physical activities that involve muscle strengthening, balance and coordination skills such as ballroom dancing are encouraged for older adults to assist with the maintenance of functional autonomy and prevention of falls. Twenty-three community-dwelling older adults engaged in regular ballroom dancing completed a 12-month study assessing well-being, falls risk and balance using a set of clinical outcome measures. Those attending ballroom dancing classes were more likely to be active older adults, with lower levels of BMI and obesity compared to the general population. Participants scored lower in the falls risk tests than normative values. Some of the results suggest a possible substantive finding for clinical practice and indicate ballroom dancing is an activity with good attrition and adherence rates among community-dwelling older adults that can improve well-being, balance and reduce falls risk as part of an active lifestyle.

摘要

鼓励老年人进行涉及肌肉强化、平衡和协调技能的体育活动，例如交际舞，以帮助维持功能自主和预防跌倒。23 名社区居住的老年人定期参加交际舞，他们完成了一项为期 12 个月的研究，使用一组临床结果测量来评估幸福感、跌倒风险和平衡。参加交际舞课程的人更有可能是活跃的老年人，与一般人群相比，BMI和肥胖水平较低。参与者在跌倒风险测试中的得分低于标准值。