Effects of Home Exercise Program on the Improvement of Muscle Strength in the Elderly

가정운동 훈련프로그램이 노인의 근력증진에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of home exercise program on the improvement of muscle strength in the elderly. Subjects were forty members living in Daegu (20 males, 20 females), between 65 and 81 years of age. The subjects were divided into two groups; an experimental group and a control group, and each group included 10 males and 10 females. The subjects for the experimental group were participated in the home exercise program for 8 weeks, between April 2001 and June 2001. The results of this study follow: 1.General characteristics statistically significantly affecting for knee extensor strength were weight, height, right sight vision, diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, obesity and thigh BMD; vision and thigh BMD were for knee flexor strength 2. After the exercise program, knee extensor strength in the experimental group improved 30.8% (p<0.001), and knee flexor strength improved 23.9% (p<0.001). 3. After the exercise program, there was significant difference in knee extensor strength (p<0.05) and knee flexor strength (p<0.05) between the experimental group and the control group. As a continuous health care for the elderly using this home exercise program could be helpful to enhance health of the elderly and promote their quality of life.