PhD, Associate Professor A.V. Korichko¹

PhD, Associate Professor L.G. Pashchenko¹

¹Nizhnevartovsk State University, Nizhnevartovsk

 

Keywords: physical condition, Omega-S, autonomous regulation, therapeutic swimming practices.

 

Background. The national physical education and sports (PES) sector is designed to secure multiple social and health benefits for every social group. Benefits of the PES practices for physical and mental health have been proved by many national and foreign studies [2, 7]. Senior age is no exclusion since the age-specific reasonable PES activity helps protect and improve health, contribute to the active longevity and prevent/ mitigate chronic diseases. Modern therapeutic swimming practices at the physicality/ functionality decline stage are commonly viewed as the beneficial physical activity of multiple positive effects on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems associated with the nervous and physical stress mitigation effects and, what is particularly important for this age group, preventing the musculoskeletal system regress due to the healthy and risk-free physical activity [3].

Furthermore, as demonstrated by our preliminary studies, the age-specific health PES practices are largely driven by the health-, fun- and peer-communication-related motivations particularly appreciated by the female seniors [4, 5]. It may be pertinent to emphasize that, despite the high motivations for health PES activity, neither of the national health groups has ever been tested reasonably competent in the healthy lifestyles and PES basics, with the situation further aggravated by the commonly poor awareness of own health issues, physical fitness, factors of influence on the individual health standards and health improvement methods and toolkits [6]. Therefore, a special priority shall be given to the studies to find the key factors of influence on the senior-age-specific health PES efficiency.

Objective of the study was to provide grounds for the health and life quality rating tests that may be applied to rate the seniors’ physical and life-quality progress in the therapeutic swimming process.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was performed at Nizhnevartovsk State University in September 2017 to February 2018 and designed to: analyze the available literature on the subject; run a SF-36 Questionnaire Survey to rate the trainees’ life quality and physical fitness by the heart rate variability tests using the computerized Omega Test System; and process the test data by the standard mathematical processing tools (including Student t-criterion, Mann-Whitney U-criterion and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient). Senior female trainees (n=35) sampled for the study were split up into the following groups: Experimental Group (n=18, mean age 62.8 years) subject to 40-minute therapeutic swimming sessions 3 times a week; and Reference Group (n=17, mean age 63.2 years) of their non-sporting peers.

Study findings and discussion. It is mostly the heart rate (HR) variability indices that give the means to rate bodily functionality, profile health variations and track individual physical adaptability [1]. The EG versus RG functionality rates based on the HR variability indices are given in Tables 1 and 2 hereunder.

 

Table 1. The EG versus RG (female seniors) vegetative regulation rates, M±m

Rate	EG (n=18)	RG (n=17)	р
HR, bpm	70,4±2,0	78,7±2,4	<0,05
Tension index (TI), c.u.	199,9±30,3	398,4±73,1	<0,05
Vegetative balance index, c.u.	381,4 69,7	533,2 117,7	>0,05
Vegetative rhythm index, c.u.	0,19±0,02	0,15±0,02	>0,05
Regulation rate adequacy index, c.u.	61,3±7,2	67,5±6,1	>0,05

 

The EG was tested with progress in the heart performance efficiency as verified by the significant (р<0.05) reduction in the resting HR and tension index (р<0.05) indicative of the effects of the nervous system on the heart performance, versus the RG. Despite the notable intergroup differences in the vegetative balance and vegetative rhythm indices, the differences were rated insignificant.

 

Table 2. The EG versus RG (female seniors) physicality rates, points, M±m

Rate	EG (n=18)	RG (n=17)	р
Physical adaptability rate	32,1±6,1	11,6±5,1	<0,05
Training progress rate	41,0±7,7	27,9±5,9	>0,05
Energy supply rate	31,5±5,4	19,8±4,1	>0,05
Psycho-emotional status rate	31,5±5,2	17,3±4,4	>0,05
Integrated physical fitness rate	36,5±4,7	19,0±4,3	<0,05

 

Having analyzed the intergroup physicality rates, we found a significant (р<0.05) progress of the EG versus RG in the physical adaptability, training progress and integral physical fitness rates. Despite the notable intergroup differences in the vegetative psycho-emotional status and energy supply rates, the differences were insignificant.

The EG functionality profiling tests made it possible to rate the trainees’ progress. It should be emphasized that some women showed regress in the integrated physical fitness rates, plus the growths in the tension indices, resting HR and falls in the physical adaptability rates: see Figure 1 hereunder.

 

Figure 1. EG physicality profiles in the training process, %: А – physical adaptation rate; В – training progress rate; C – energy supply rate; D – psycho-emotional status; and Н – physical fitness rate

Progress Regress

 

We classified the EG life quality rate variations in the therapeutic swimming process into the regress- and progress-tested subgroups: see Table 3.

 

Table 3. The EG life quality rate variations in the therapeutic swimming process into the regress- and progress-tested subgroups, points, M±m

Rate	Progress	Regress	P
I. Physical component	54,6±1,4	38,9±1,8	<0,05
1. Physical performance rate	93,3±1,1	63,6±6,6	<0,05
2. Physical functionality rate	95,8±4,2	42,9±11,8	<0,05
3. Pain intensity rate	82,3±7,3	50,3±5,0	<0,05
4. General health status	80,3±4,0	60,7±6,1	<0,05
II. Mental component	50,9±2,6	50,3±3,4	>0,05
1. Stamina	70,0±7,3	65,0±5,8	>0,05
2. Social functionality	85,4±6,8	69,6±7,1	>0,05
3. Emotional functionality	94,4±5,6	71,4±13,5	>0,05
4. Mental health self-rate	72,7±5,8	68,0±6,1	>0,05

 

The study data and analyses showed statistically significant positive correlations of the physical life quality component with the physical adaptability rate (r=0.63, р<0.05); training progress rate (r=0.67, р<0.05); integrated physical fitness rate (r=0.77, р<0.05); and a notable negative correlation with the tension index (r= – 0.68, р>0.05). The study found insignificant correlations of the physicality rates with the emotional life quality component.

Conclusion. Reasonable physical activity is known to be critical for the senior people’s health, working ability and active lifestyle albeit the uncontrolled therapeutic swimming practices poorly customized to the actual physicality and life-quality related aspects (physical functionality, pains, overall health status etc.) may overstress and harm the cardiovascular system, physical adaptability and, hence, fitness of the senior trainees. The study data and analyses underline the importance of the actual body status and life-quality aspects rating tests and analyses in the senior women’s therapeutic swimming practices.

 

References

1. Bayevskiy R.M. Analiz variabelnosti serdechnogo ritma: istoriya i filosofiya, teoriya i praktika [Heart rate variability study: history and philosophy, theory and practice]. Klinicheskaya informatika i telemeditsina, 2004, no. 1, pp. 54-64.

2. Dudchenko Z.F., Perfileva E.N. Dvigatelnaya aktivnost kak faktor zdorovogo obraza zhizni: psikhologicheskie aspekty [Motor activity as a factor of healthy lifestyle: psychological aspects]. Uchenye zapiski Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta psikhologii i sotsialnoy raboty, 2009, vol.11 (1), pp. 105-109.

3. Menshutkina T.G. Teoriya i metodika ozdorovitelnogo plavaniya zhenschin raznogo vozrasta. Avtoref. dis. dokt. ped. nauk [Theory and methods of therapeutic swimming for women of different ages. Doct. diss. abstract (Hab.)]. Lesgaft NSUPhESH publ., St. Petersburg, 2000.

4. Pashchenko L.G. Organizatsiya obrazovatelno-ozdorovitelnoy deyatelnosti vzroslogo naseleniya v usloviyakh fizkulturno-ozdorovitelnogo kompleksa [Organization of educational and recreational activities for senior population within physical culture and health complex]. Azimut nauchnykh issledovaniy: pedagogika i psikhologiya, 2017, vol. 6, no. 3 (20), pp. 177-181.

5. Pashchenko L.G. Fizicheskaya aktivnost i motivy zanyatiy fizicheskoy kulturoy i sportom vzroslogo naseleniya v Rossii i za rubezhom [Physical activity and motives for physical and sports training for adults in Russia and abroad]. Vestnik Nizhnevartovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2017, no. 3, pp. 110-116.

6. Stepanova G.A. Osnovnye tendentsii formirovaniya zdorovogo obraza zhizni sredstvami fizicheskoy kultury i sporta [Basic trends in healthy lifestyle cultivation by means of physical education and sports]. Nauchny meditsinskiy vestnik Yugry, 2012, no. 1-2, pp. 257-261.

7. Cardinal B.J. Toward a greater understanding of the syndemic nature of hypokinetic diseases. Exercise Science & Fitness, 2016, no. 14. P. 54-59.

 

Corresponding author: korichko_nv@mail.ru

 

Abstract

Objective of the study was to provide grounds for the health and life quality rating tests that may be applied to rate the physical and life-quality-related progress of senior people in the therapeutic swimming process. The study was performed at Nizhnevartovsk State University in September 2017 to February 2018 and designed to: analyze the available literature on the subject; run a SF-36 Questionnaire Survey to rate the trainees’ life quality and physical fitness by the heart rate variability tests using the computerized Omega Test System; and process the test data by the standard mathematical processing tools (including Student t-criterion, Mann-Whitney U-criterion and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient). Sampled for the study were senior female trainees (n=35) split up into the following groups: Experimental Group (n=18, mean age 62.8 years) subject to 40-minute therapeutic swimming sessions 3 times a week; and Reference Group (n=17, mean age 63.2 years) of their non-sporting peers.

Reasonable physical activity is known to be critical for the senior people’s health, working ability and active lifestyle albeit the uncontrolled therapeutic swimming practices poorly customized to the actual physicality and life-quality related aspects (physical functionality, pains, overall health status etc.) may overstress and harm the cardiovascular system, physical adaptability and, hence, fitness of the senior trainees. The study data and analyses underline the importance of the actual body status and life-quality aspects rating tests and analyses in the senior women’s therapeutic swimming practices.