A Systematic Review of Literature on Community Health Center Exercise Programs

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the research methods, types and effects of community health center exercise programs for the elderly. METHODS: We established the PICOTS-SD (Participants, Interventions, Comparisons, Outcomes, Timing of outcome measurement, Setting, Study Design), reviewed 583 studies from electronic database of DBpia, KoreaMed, KISS, RISS, NDSL and Pubmed, and finally selected 20 studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed with the Risk-of-Bias Assessment tool for non-randomized studies. RESULTS: With regard to research methods, the majority of studies on community health center exercise programs for the elderly were performed after 2010 and using non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest research design. As for the types and effects of exercise programs, the exercise period ranged from 6 to 28 weeks, and the most common exercise frequency was three times a week for 60 minutes. In addition, mixed-type and group exercise programs were performed most commonly. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide a basis for the development of exercise programs to improve elders' health.