Health Benefits of Alpine Skiing for the Elderly (SASES)

University of Salzburg

Status: Completed

Conditions: Strength; Exercise Capacity; Elderly; Postural Control

Treatments: Behavioral: Alpine Skiing

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01248910

SASES

Details and patient eligibility

About

Older people tend to live a sedentary lifestyle which causes a loss of cardiorespiratory fitness, impaired postural stability and a increased risk of falls. Social isolation of older people leads to depression and other mental diseases. However, numerous studies show that age-related degradation processes and functional limitations can be counteracted by physical activity. Various studies show that alpine skiing is a complex sport that places demands on the cardiorespiratory, neuromuscular and sensorimotor systems. With studies providing evidence to suggest alpine skiing is an appropriate activity for elderly as a health-enhancing sport, perhaps Alpine skiing could provide the physical activity needed to counteract age-related degradation processes and loss of function. To date, there is a lack of long-term intervention studies devoted to this topic. The aim of this study was to monitor the long-term effects of skiing on the health of older people, as to age-related muscle breakdown, cardiorespiratory fitness, body stability, general mobility and the overall psychological state of the subjects.

Sex: All

Ages: 60 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 60-75 years of age at
• average or above average skiing ability
• average physical activity level
• willingness to ski regularly (2-3 days per week) for 12 weeks
• ability to give written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• serious health problems that would make alpine skiing unjustifiable

Trial design

0 participants in 2 patient groups

Alpine Skiing

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Alpine Skiing

Control group

No Intervention group