The Effect of Eight Weeks of Exercise in Water on the Levels of Stress, Anxiety and Depression of Elderly Men

Nowadays, the trend of dramatic growth in the aging population and its relation with mental disorders is on the rise. In this vein, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of exercise in water on the levels of stress, anxiety and depression of elderly men in Gachsaran city. In this semi-experimental study, 30 male volunteers with a mean age of 66 ± 0.5 years, who met the inclusion criteria of the study, were randomly selected and assigned into two control and experimental groups of 15 subjects. The experimental group performed the selected exercises in water in accordance with the planned protocol, and the control group just performed their daily routine activities during this period. Running pretest and post-test, stress (GHQ questionnaire), anxiety (Cattle’s questionnaire) and depression (Beck’s questionnaire) were measured in both groups. To analyze the findings, analysis of covariance was employed using SPSS software (version 21) (p≤0.05). Exercise in water had a significant effect on stress components such as reduction of physical symptoms, anxiety symptoms and symptoms of depression and an increase in symptoms of social action compared to control group (p≤0.05), exercise in water had a significant effect on anxiety reduction compared to control group (p≤0.05) Also, exercise in water had a significant effect on depression reduction compared to control group (p≤0.05). Regarding the results of this study, it seems that exercise in water reduces anxiety and depression and some stress factors in elderly people.