The Effects of Recreation Dance on Depression and Life Satisfaction in Elderly Women in a Low Class Community

레크리에이션 댄스가 저소득층 여성노인의 우울과 생활만족도에 미치는 효과

It is essential to improve the quality of life of the elderly in aging society. Regular exercise as nursing intervention is needed to prevent diseases, maintain and promote their health, and thus promote the quality of life for the elderly, especially who generally had poor cognition for their health maintenance and promotion in a low class community. Subjects consisted of 30 women. over 65 years old in a community welfare center, who lived in the low class apartments financially supported by the local government in G city, Gangwon Province, Korea. The program consisted of dancing on music for approximately 50 minutes, 3 times a week for 10 weeks. Experimental data were analyzed with $x^2-test$, t-test, mean values, standard deviation, percentage of change and paired t-test using SAS program. After the recreation dance, the mean value of the experimental group was decreased from 7.62 to 7.44 (t=-0.258, P=0.799), and that of the control group was also decreased from 7.00 to 6.58 (t=-0.971, P=0.349) in depression. However, there were no statistically significant differences in scores of depression between two groups. In life satisfaction, the mean value of the experimental group was increased from 19.07 to 26.50 (t=2.392, P=0.030), but that of the control group was decreased from 15.92 to 13.71 (t=-1.060, P=0.305). Thus it shows that there was a statistically significant improvement on life satisfaction after the recreation dance.