BOSTON – A program of regular, low-impact exercise can improve mood and executive functioning in older adults with osteoporosis, according to research in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
Of 16 elderly residents with osteoporosis living independently in a multilevel health care facility, the 8 individuals randomized to an osteoporosis exercise intervention two to three times per week for 3 weeks experienced improvements in working memory and self-reported quality of life measures, compared with the 8 individuals assigned to the wait-list control condition, reported Dana B. Kazmerski and her colleagues.
The median age of participants in the study was 84. All of the participants underwent baseline and postintervention screening for cognitive function using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) measure, and for depression and mood swings using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the Wisconsin Quality of Life Index (W-QLI). There were no significant differences between the groups in the preintervention measures.
Postintervention, the exercise group showed significant improvements on the RBANS coding subtest, which measures information-processing speed, and on the quality of life depression and mood swing measures. Repeated ANOVA measures showed no significant impact on the results of potential covariates.
The results of the study are consistent with those of investigations linking exercise to increased executive functioning and extend such findings to the current aging population with osteoporosis, noted Ms. Kazmerski who authored the study with Cay Anderson-Hanley, Ph.D., both of Union College in Schenectady, New York.
“The improvements [we] found in mood and executive functioning suggest that an osteoporosis exercise program may not only provide protection against brittle, thin bones, but perhaps can also help improve quality of life in terms of less depression and improved working memory,” Ms. Kazmerski said.