Background: Physical exercise interventions have showed improvement on cognitive performance and mobility of old people. However, the results regarding the inclusion of cognitive activities into exercise were not evaluated simultaneously. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of multimodal exercise program on cognitive function and physical performance in elderly people with mobility disabilities.
Methods: The sample of the study consisted of 70 old people randomly appointed to the exercise and control groups (35 people for each) with mobility disabilities. A new exercise program was conducted for old people in the exercise group for 6 months. Evaluation between 1st and 24th week included cognitive change, mobility, balance and walking parameters.
Results: Exercise group showed better performance on orientation, memory and language point than before the intervention (P<0.05). Again, the total mental test score of the exercise group significantly increased from 18.7±3.5 to 20.1±3.5 after the intervention (P<0.001). People without a cognitive disorder increased from 8 to 11 in the exercise group (P<0.001), while the number did not change in control group. Correlation was found between exercise group and activities such as mobility, walking and balance performance (r=0.81; P<0.001).
Conclusions: A multimodal exercise program with intense mental activities enabled an improvement in both cognitive and physical performance in old people with loss of competences due to mobility.