Badminton for Cardiovascular & Neuromuscular function among older adults with and without non-communicable disease

ABSTRACT

Background: The success to well-being has been attributed to the higher level of Physical activities in our day-to-day routine activities. The true meaning of fitness for a humankind has wider spectrum. It can be correlated with being free from various disorders including cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurological, and psychosocial condition and thus lead an enhanced quality of life which can be significantly achieved by incorporating adequate physical activities. The World Health Organization has declared physical inactivity as fourth leading cause of death and major risk factor non-communicable diseases. Studies suggest that the higher prevalence for non-communicable disease adds to extreme health and financial burden to United Arab Emirates and promotion of physical activities could help combat this situation (Arena et al. 2015). Thus, the project aimed to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases through promoting outdoor physical activity while utilizing the beneficial effects of Badminton sports on cardiovascular and neuromuscular functions. Research Objectives 1. To analyze the changes in cardiovascular and neuromuscular fitness parameters and their effect on the disease outcome for older adults with and without non-communicable disease in UAE. 2. To compare the in cardiovascular and neuromuscular fitness between older adults with and without non-communicable disease while engaging in Physical activity through Badminton Sport Methodology: The study was conducted at the Body and Soul Indoor Badminton Court, under the Gulf Medical University Premises. A total of 80 participants were recruited under the study divided into two groups of 40 each under the purposive sampling method. An ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review board (IRB/COHS/FAC/67/Sep-2021) prior to data collection. All participants were engaged in badminton sessions for minimum of 45 minutes and 24 sessions (3 times a week for two months). The neuromuscular outcome variables included joint power, peak force using isokinetic for quadriceps and hamstring, agility, response time, muscle length and strength, kinetics using force plate and kinematics using the BTS 3D motion analysis system. The Cardiovascular outcome measures included 6-minute walk test. Result(s) The findings of the study suggested a statistically significant difference for both neuromuscular and cardiovascular parameters (p <= 0.05) in both groups. More changes were observed in people with communicable disease particularly in peak isokinetic muscle force. Conclusion(s) The badminton is a very safe and encouraging mode of physical health promotion among elderly population. Badminton showed significant improvement in the neuromuscular and cardiovascular functions among both communicable and non -communicable group whereas changes were higher in the communicable group. Due to the non-contact nature of the sport chances of Covid spread was reduced significantly while engaging the participants into physical training while engaging them into regular physical activity and health promotion. Conflict of Interest There is no conflict of interest. Funder Badminton World Federation Research Grant 2021 Copyright © 2022