Effects of a Salsa Dance Training on Balance and Strength Performance in Older Adults

Abstract

Background: Deficits in static and particularly dynamic postural control and force production have frequently been associated with an increased risk of falling in older adults. Objective: The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of salsa dancing on measures of static/dynamic postural control and leg extensor power in seniors. Methods: Twenty-eight healthy older adults were randomly assigned to an intervention group (INT, n = 14, age 71.6 ± 5.3 years) to conduct an 8-week progressive salsa dancing programme or a control group (CON, n = 14, age 68.9 ± 4.7 years). Static postural control was measured during one-legged stance on a balance platform and dynamic postural control was obtained while walking on an instrumented walkway. Leg extensor power was assessed during a countermovement jump on a force plate. Results: Programme compliance was excellent with participants of the INT group completing 92.5% of the dancing sessions. A tendency towards an improvement in the selected measures of static postural control was observed in the INT group as compared to the CON group. Significant group × test interactions were found for stride velocity, length and time. Post hoc analyses revealed significant increases in stride velocity and length, and concomitant decreases in stride time. However, salsa dancing did not have significant effects on various measures of gait variability and leg extensor power. Conclusion: Salsa proved to be a safe and feasible exercise programme for older adults accompanied with a high adherence rate. Age-related deficits in measures of static and particularly dynamic postural control can be mitigated by salsa dancing in older adults. High physical activity and fitness/mobility levels of our participants could be responsible for the nonsignificant findings in gait variability and leg extensor power.

Effects of combined exercise on gait variability in community-dwelling older adults

“…A previous study demonstrated that inter-stride variability did not change after an 8-week supervised Pilates program in elderly subjects (Newell et al 2012). Also, Granacher et al (2012) showed that an 8-week salsa dancing program did not have significant effects on gait variability in older adults. In contrast, our results showed a significant decrease in gait variability after 12 weeks of exercise.…”

A comparison of dance interventions in people with Parkinson disease and older adults

“…Fewer studies focus on Latin dance, including tango [19] and salsa [20], compared to the PD literature. Researchers have also examined the impacts of traditional and folkloristic dance, including Greek [21], Caribbean [22], and Thai [23] traditional dance, as well as Turkish Folkloristic dance [24].…”

“…Studies on dance in older adults included similar short-term interventions of 10–13 weeks [19, 21, 22, 25–28, 30–32, 38], although some were as short as four [33], six [23, 37] or eight weeks [20, 24]. A few studies in PD have investigated longer intervention periods of six months [18], twelve months [16], or as long as two years [17].…”

Maintaining older brain functionality: A targeted review

“…There are multiple studies that have shed a positive light on the impact of dance related interventions and healthy aging for both the cognition and physical capacity domains. The type of dance did not seem to make any difference; a broad range of different types of dance, ranging from folklore dance, through tango to salsa and jazz, showed beneficial effects (Alpert et al, 2009;Coubard et al, 2011;Currie et al, 2012;Dechamps et al, 2010;Fosshage, 2004;Granacher et al, 2012;Gray, 2008;Heiberger et al, 2011;Keogh et al, 2009;Kim et al, 2011;Koch and Bräuninger, 2005;Sevdalis and Keller, 2011).…”