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. 2021 Jul 28;18(15):7961.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18157961.

Effects of Functional Fitness Enhancement through Taekwondo Training on Physical Characteristics and Risk Factors of Dementia in Elderly Women with Depression

Sun-Hong Baek  1 , Ga-Ram Hong  1 , Do-Kyum Min  2 , Eun-Hee Kim  3 , Sang-Kab Park  4
Affiliations

Effects of Functional Fitness Enhancement through Taekwondo Training on Physical Characteristics and Risk Factors of Dementia in Elderly Women with Depression

Sun-Hong Baek et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify the correlations between functional fitness enhancement through a long-term Taekwondo training program and the physical characteristics and risk factors of dementia among elderly women with depression. The study has found that conducting three 60-min Taekwondo training sessions a week for the duration of 12 weeks has enhanced a number of functional fitness indexes, including hand grip strength/weight (p < 0.01), 4-m gait speed (p < 0.001), 3-m timed up and go (p < 0.05), and figure-of-eight track (p < 0.05), and significantly improved general health condition indexes as well, including percent fat (p < 0.05), appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (p < 0.01), systolic blood pressure (p < 0.01), and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the arteriosclerosis index and cognitive function have been found to be improved with an increase of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF; which prevents dementia) and a significant decrease of β-amyloid-a risk factor of dementia-as a result of enhancements in serum lipids and adiponectin, confirming the positive effects of functional fitness enhancement on fighting depression, promoting physical characteristics, and reducing the risk factors of dementia.

Keywords: Taekwondo training program; dementia risk factor; depression; elderly women; functional fitness; physical characteristics; serum lipids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlation coefficient between H/W and GDS-K, K-DSQ, β-amyloid, BDNF (n = 20). H/W: hand grip strength/Weight, GDS-K: geriatric depression scale Korea, K-DSQ: Korean dementia screening questionnaire, BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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