Acceptability and feasibility of public square dancing for community senior citizens with mild cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms:A pilot study

Objectives:To explore the acceptability and feasibility of public square dancing among community residents with mild cognitive impairment(MCI)and depressive symptoms.Methods:This mixed-method study consisted of a quantitative and a qualitative phase.From January to July 2018,a total of 241 community-dwelling senior citizens who complained of memory loss in one community in the Haidian District in Beijing were approached and screened,and 41 qualified for the study.Among them,35 senior citizens participated in the public square dancing intervention.By the end of the three-month follow-up,31 senior citizens completed the whole study.The Subjective Exercise Experience Scale(SEES)was used to survey senior citizens at the end of the three-month public square dancing intervention and follow-up to measure the participants’subjective exercise experience.Then 15 senior citizens were interviewed to collect attitudes,opinions,and suggestions related to the intervention.Results:During the intervention,90.6%of senior citizens met the requirement for defined hours.All senior citizens continued to dance at the three-month follow-up,and 32.3%met the requirement for defined hours.The scores of psychological well-being(11.03±2.82 vs.14.87±3.93,P<0.001)and fatigue(11.00[8.00,12.00]vs.14.00[9.00,18.00],P<0.001)increased at the end of the three-month follow-up.Qualitative research results extracted four major themes:increased confidence and a sense of accomplishment;easy to learn,close to real life,and sense of belonging;promotes physical and mental health;future expectations include music selection,reduced weather disruption,and self-organizing workouts.Conclusion:Public square dancing proved to be an acceptable,viable,and valuable intervention for MCI residents with depressive symptoms,which could be carried out by nursing staff in the community.Future studies should consider the appropriate population,intensity,and frequency of public square dancing and its effect on specific cognitive functions.

Public Square Dancing Intervention on Subjective Well-Being of Middle-Aged and Elderly People:A Meta-Analysis

Objective:To understand the influence of public square dancing on the subjective well-being of middle-aged and elderly people.Methods:According to the principle of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses(PRISMA)guidelines,we search Chinese databases,such as CNKI,Wanfang Data,and VIP,and English databases,such as Proquest,Web of Science,Pubmed,Cochrane,and ScienceDirect,and collect relevant articles at home and abroad from 2006 to December 2019 for meta-analysis in January 2020.Result:A total of 10 articles were included.The meta-analysis results showed that the well-being of middle-aged and elderly people in the public square dancing intervention group was significantly higher than that of the other exercise group and control group(both P<0.01).The results of the subgroup analysis showed the following:Different durations of intervention significantly influence the intervention effect(P<0.01).No difference was found between the effect of the mixed-gender intervention and the individual female intervention(P>0.05).No significant difference was found between the groups with weekly intervention frequency(P>0.05).Conclusion:Public square dancing intervention is effective for middle-aged and elderly people’s subjective well-being.Neither mixed intervention nor the times of weekly intervention have an impact on the intervention effect.However,the length of duration of intervention influences the intervention effect.