Background: The necessity of improve the life quality in elderly people is well-known. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of physical and cognitive training programs, as well as their combination on the cognitive functions and physical capacities in women over 80 years old. Methods: Forty-three women took part in this study (80.86 ± 5.03 years). They were divided into four groups (three experimental groups and one control group). Experimental group 1 performed cognitive training. Experimental group 2 did physical–cognitive training, and Experimental Group 3 accomplished physical training. All of training programs had duration of eight weeks (five sessions of 60 min per week). We measured cognitive variables with the Stroop test, D2 test, and Trail Making test. Physical variables were measured with handgrip strength, Minute Step Test, and visual–acoustic reaction time. Results. Control group reduces his physical and cognitive capacities, while the three experimental groups increase these capacities. We found a strong correlation between the increase of physical and cognitive capacities. Conclusion: Eight weeks of training physical, cognitive or mixed, increased physical and cognitive functions of elderly people which may reduce the negative effects of the aging process.
The joint analysis of various ordinal variables is necessary in many experimental studies within research fields such as sociology and psychology. Therefore, the necessary measures of multiple ordinal dependence must be easy to interpret and facilitate the interpretation of multivariate models that fit ordinal data. The main objective of this article is to propose a multiple ordinal correlation measure based on a bivariate correlation measure: Kendall’s tau. A sample version of the measure is proposed for its estimation. Furthermore, a confidence interval and a multiple ordinal independence test are proposed. The measure is applied to various simulations, covering a wide range of multiple ordinal dependency scenarios, in order to illustrate the adequacy of the measure and the proposed inferential techniques. Finally, the measure is applied to a real-world study based on a social survey of the levels of life satisfaction and the happiness index of a population.
Background: Sleep is an important phenomenon to restore the body, both physically and emotionally, providing a state of balance in the person. It has been proven that adequate sleep at night is one of the main needs of older people in order to maintain an active and healthy life; among other factors, regular physical exercise can improve the quality of sleep. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effects of a physical exercise program supplemented with vibration training on sleep quality and the use of sleep drugs in women over 65 years of age. Methods: Fifty-two independent, physically active adult women were randomised into two groups: a physical exercise program (n = 26, control group) and the same physical exercise program supplemented with vibration training (n = 26, experimental group). The control group performed two weekly sessions of exercise, and the experimental group added another two sessions of vibration training to these two sessions for 12 weeks. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh index. Statistical significance was established as p < 0.05. Results: After the intervention, there were significant changes to the quality of sleep (p = 0.001) and hours of sleep (p = 0.002) in the experimental group. The consumption of drugs decreased in this group, although not significantly; however, it did have a moderate effect size (p = 0.058; d = 0.36). The control group, on the other hand, reported significantly worsened sleep quality (p = 0.001) and increased drug use (p = 0.008). Conclusion: Three months of vibration training, as a complement to a conventional physical exercise program, improves sleep quality and reduces the consumption of sleeping pills in women over 65 years of age.