Review Article

Physical Activity, Mental Health, and Wellbeing among Older Adults in South and Southeast Asia: A Scoping Review

Table 3

General overview of interventional studies ().

S.no.Title and dateInterventionPopulation characteristicsKey findingsMental wellbeing measure

(1)Self-perceived health status and sleep quality of older adults living in community after elastic band exercises [22] 2016The elastic band programme included three stages, warm up, aerobic motion and static stretching. Each phase was executed for 12 minutes, 10 minutes, and 18 minutes respectively. The intervention was conducted 3 times per week with each session lasting for 40 minutes for six months.The study was conducted in six senior-citizen centers, southern Taiwan. Out of total 199 participants recruited, a total of 169 participants were included for final data analysis where 84 constituted the experimental group and 85 constituted the control group.At the three month interval, compared to participants in control group, the participants in the experimental group experienced the greater improvemnet in self-perceived physical health, overall sleep quality, sleep latency and sleep duration.Chinese version of 12-item short -Form Health Survey (SF-12) was used to measure the self-perceived health status of participants including physical and mental aspects.
Chinese verison of the Pittsburgh Sleep Qualty Index was used to measure sleep quality of the patients.
(2)Sleep quality, depression state, and health status of older adults after silver yoga exercises: Cluster randomized trial [21] 2009The silver yoga program included warm up, hatha yoga gentle stretching, relaxation and guided-imagery meditation. Each session was conducted for 70 minutes, three times per week for 6 months.The study was conducted in 8 randomly selected senior activity centers in Taiwan with total 139 senior citizens,out of which 62 participants from 4 senior activity centers were assigned for experimental goup and 66 to control group randomly.Silver yoga intervention helped in improving the mental health indicators of the participants significantly in experimental group comapred to control group (all ). Many of the indicators improved after 3 months of intervention and were maintained throughout the 6 month study.Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire (TDQ) was used to measure depression state of the participants. Chinese version of SF-12 was used to measure self perception of health status.Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure sleep quality of the patients.
3.The Effects of Tai Chi on Sleep Quality, Wellbeing and Physical Performances among Older Adults [19] 2008Tai Chi program comprised of 7 minutes warm up and 15 minutes of 18 basic Tai Chi movements. Each session is 22 minutes, 3 times a week for 12 weeks.The study was conducted in two similar residential care facilities for older adults in Thailand. Out of which one was assigned as experimental site and other as control site with 25 participants in each.Experimental group experienced a significant positive changes on the PSQI, GWBS, step test and lung capacity. After pre-post questionnaire comparison, experimental group at 14 weeks had significant reduction of PSQI scòre, which indicated better sleep quality. The change score between two groups of the GWBS, lung capacity and sit and reach test showed no differences.The Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure subjective sleep quality. General wellbeing scale (GWBS) was modified from Dupuy’s General wellbeing.
4.The effect of a simple traditional exercise programme (Baduanjin exercise) on sleep quality of older adults: A randomized controlled trial [20] 2012The Baduanjin exercise comprised three stages- warm up, exercise and cool down. The Baduanjin exercise program included three parts: a videotape demonstrating Baduanjin exercise, a picture based educational brochure and instructions to perform 30 minutes home based Baduanjin exercise, 3 times a week for 12 weeks.A total of 202 community dwelling older adults in northern Taiwan were screened for the study; out of which 55 completed the 12 weeks study. Twenty seven participants were randomly assigned to exercise group and 28 to control group.After 12 weeks of intervention, the experimental group had significant improvement in overall sleep quality, subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and daytime dysfunction ()Chinese version of the PSQI was used to measure sleep quality. The Chinese verison of the short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-SF) was used as a screening tool to measure depressive symptoms..