earticle

영어

[PURPOSE] This study set out to apply combined exercise to elderly women with sarcopenia and investigate its effects on their skeletal muscle mass index (SMI)-related factors through appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) and balance scale-related factors. [METHODS] The subjects include 22 elderly women (79.13±5.88 years old) with sarcopenia whose SMI was 25.1% or lower based on ASM according to the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) results. The exercise group (10) carried out combined exercise, which consisted of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise for 30~50 minutes a day three times per week for 12 weeks. The control group (12) maintained the lifestyle before the experiment without special treatments. The investigator measured and analyzed the factors related to SMI and balance scale before and after the experiment and treated collected data through repeated measures of two-way ANOVA with the statistical significance level set at α=.05. [RESULTS] There were significant interactive effects between the time of measurement and groups in body fat percentage (p=.019), total muscle mass (p<.001), upper limb muscle mass (p=.005), lower limb muscle mass (p<.001), ASM (p<.001), and SMI (p<.001). While there were significant differences between the times of measurement in total length (p=.004), sway velocity (p=.004), and stability score (p=.030), no significant interactive effects were observed between the time and groups. [CONCLUSIONS] The 12-week combined exercise seems to have positive influences on the SMI-related factors for elderly women with sarcopenia to prevent falls or fractures. For future research, it is required to develop a variety of exercise methods for the elderly with sarcopenia whose ASM decline is prominent.