背景和目的:臺灣已突破世界衛生組織定義老化國家之關卡,伴隨年齡老化而來的下肢肌力衰退、心肺耐力變差、平衡能力降低、走路速度變慢等問題,使老年人在執行日常生活任務的困難度增加,更甚者造成跌倒或引起傷害。運動訓練被認為是一有效且自主性高的介入方式,唯目前尚缺乏以多面向的評估項目分析常用來訓練老年人的運動模式之成效。本研究目的為探討不同模式的運動介入對於老年人下肢肌力、心肺耐力、平衡和行走功能等面向的運動成效。方法:本研究為雙盲隨機分派臨床試驗,徵召附近社區65歲以上具行走能力之老年人,隨機分派至肌力訓練組、心肺耐力訓練組和平衡訓練組,接受為期8週的運動介入,每週3次,每次30分鐘,並於運動介入前及結束後評估其下肢肌力、心肺耐力、平衡能力和行走功能。結果:經8週的運動訓練後,三組受試者在各面向的評估項目中皆有不同程度的改善效果。結論:給予老年人肌力訓練、心肺耐力訓練或平衡訓練皆有助於改善其活動和行走功能。
Background and Purpose: Taiwan has reached to the ageing society defined by the World Health Organization. The accompanied physical declination including decrease in muscle strength of lower extremity, cardiopulmonary endurance, balance and walking speed may induce inconvenience in daily tasks performance. It may also elevate the risk of falling or cause injuries. Exercise training has been proved to be an efficient way to promote elderly living. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the three most common-used exercise modes on muscle strength of lower extremity, cardiopulmonary endurance, balance and walking performance in elderly. Methods: This was a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Older adults were recruited and randomly allocated to strengthening, endurance or balance training groups. The exercise training was delivered 30 minutes per session, 3 sessions per week, for 8 weeks. Outcome measures included muscle strength of lower extremity, cardiopulmonary endurance, balance and gait performance. Results: The result showed that the three modes of exercise improve all aspects of physical function and walking performance in different degree. Conclusions: Different modes of exercise training such as strengthening exercise, endurance exercise and balance exercise are proved to be beneficial in improving physical function and gait performance in elderly.