The Comparison of Aerobic Power and Mental Health Factors among Active, Sedentary and Mountaineer Elder People

The purpose of this study was to compare physical fitness and mental health factors among active, non active and mountaineer aged people. For this reason elderly were selected randomly through questionnaires in north of Tehran. According to their activeness and type of activity, subjects divided into three groups of Mountaineer (n: 15), active(n: 14) and Sedentary (n:14).Then General Health Questionnaire Goldberg (GHQ) were administered and their cardiovascular and physical and motor fitness factors consist of: Body Fat percent, Blood pressure, Heart Rate, BMI, Reaction time, modified balk test were measured. Physiological data were analyzed using one way ANOVA, and General Health Questionnaire Goldberg data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).The results showed that there was significant difference between average of aerobic capacity in three groups (P≤0.01) and the mountaineer group had better aerobic capacity . Also there was significant difference among groups in scores of somatic symptom, anxiety, social performance, severe depression domains and the average in General Health. In other word the average of General Health in mountaineer group were better than the other groups( p≤0/05). Conclusion according to these results, Adults recommended to in regular physical activities for increasing length of life.