The Effect of Leisure Time Physical Activity Program on Activities of Daily Living and Hope in Elderly Men

One of the many complications and problems that the elderly experience due to the aging process is dependency in activities of daily living and also a decrease in the sense of hope. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of leisure time physical activity program on activities of daily living and hope in the elderly.

This study is a randomized clinical trial type intervention on 60 elderly people randomly selected from two health centers in Mashhad who met the inclusion criteria and the health of the participants to participate in the intervention was approved by the medical group of the health center. It was done. For this purpose, first, before the intervention, questionnaires of demographic information, independence in performing daily activities of Barthel and Snyder hope scale were completed from the samples in person and through interviews.Then group leisure activities were performed in 8 sessions, once a week (8 weeks), and each session lasted at least 45 minutes. Two weeks after the completion of the intervention in the experimental group, questionnaires were completed by someone other than the researcher in both groups. The collected data was analyzed and reported using SPSS-V25 software and relevant statistical tests.

The mean and standard deviation of the age of the research units in the intervention group was 68.30 ± 3.31 and in the control group was 68.33 ± 2.85 years. The demographic and main variables of the study were compared and tested in the two intervention and control groups, and the two groups were homogeneous in terms of demographic variables, the amount of hope and the amount of activities of daily living.In the post-intervention stage, the mean and standard deviation of the hope score in the intervention group was 49.36±3.12 and in the control group was 46.96±5.32. The independent t-test showed that after the intervention, the hope score in theintervention group was significantly higher than the control group (P=0.03). The average score of activities of daily living in the post-intervention phase was 95.33 ± 4.40 in the intervention group and 92.36 ± 5.86 in the control group. The independent t-test showed that after the intervention, the score of activities of daily living in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group (P=0.031).

The results of this study generally indicate that the physical activities of the elderly in their free time can play a significant role in the state of their activities of daily living and hope, therefore, it is recommended to the relevant planners and officials to provide The facilities increase the level of functional independence and hope among the elderly in the community.