The Effect of Aquatic Exercise on Postural Mobility of Healthy Older Adults with Endomorphic Somatotype

Khadijeh Irandoust, Morteza Taheri, Masoud Mirmoezzi, Cyrine H’mida, Hamdi Chtourou, Khaled Trabelsi, Achraf Ammar, Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis, Thomas Rosemann and Beat Knechtle
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Khadijeh Irandoust: Department of Soirt Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin 34148-96818, Iran
Morteza Taheri: Department of Soirt Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin 34148-96818, Iran
Masoud Mirmoezzi: Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1439813117, Iran
Cyrine H’mida: Education, Motricité, Sport et Santé (EM2S), High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia
Hamdi Chtourou: Institut Supérieur du Sport et de l’éducation physique de Sfax, Université de Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia
Khaled Trabelsi: Education, Motricité, Sport et Santé (EM2S), High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia
Achraf Ammar: Institute of Sport Science, Otto-von-Guericke-University, 39104 Magdeburg, Germany
Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis: Exercise Physiology Laboratory, 18450 Nikaia, Greece
Thomas Rosemann: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Beat Knechtle: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-10

Abstract: The fear of falling (FOF) limits the movements of the older adults, which, in turn, might impair postural mobility. An aquatic environment has a relatively low risk of falling and can improve motor abilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aquatic exercise on postural mobility of the healthy endomorph elderly somatotype. Therefore, 37 healthy endomorphic older adults with an average age of 64.38 ± 4.12 years participated in this study. Participants were randomly divided into four groups (i.e., Aquatic exercise, Dry-land exercise, Aquatic control, and Dry-land control). The Heath-Carter method was used to estimate the criterion somatotype, and the Tinetti method was used to determine postural mobility. Covariance analysis was used to examine the mean differences at a significance level of p < 0.05. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the aquatic exercise group and the two control groups ( p < 0.01), and the dry-land exercise group was significantly different from the aquatic control ( p < 0.05) and dry-land control groups ( p < 0.01). The results indicate that the design of aquatic exercise programs, especially for endomorphic older adults with inappropriate body shape, for whom dry-land exercises are not appropriate, likely, has a positive effect on the motor control and both the balance and gait and provide appropriate postural mobility without FOF in older adults.

Keywords: water exercise; postural mobility; fall; endomorph (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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