Effects of Olympic Combat Sports on Older Adults’ Health Status: A Systematic Review
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Date
2021-07-10
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Abstract
The aim of this systematic review was to analyse the studies centered on the effects
of Olympic combat sports (OCS [i.e., boxing, fencing, judo, karate, taekwondo, wrestling]) on
older adults’ physical-functional, physiological, and psychoemotional health status. The review
comprised randomised-controlled trials with OCS interventions, including older adults (≥60 years),
and measures of physical-functional, physiological, and/or psychoemotional health. The studies were
searched through SCOPUS, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and EBSCO databases
until 5 January 2021. The PRISMA-P and TESTEX scales were used to assess the quality of the
selected studies. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (code: CRD42020204034). Twelve OCS
intervention studies were found (scored ≥ 60% for methodological quality), comprising 392 females
and 343 males (mean age: 69.6 years), participating in boxing, judo, karate, and taekwondo. The
qualitative analysis revealed that compared to controls, OCS training improved muscle strength,
cardiorespiratory capacity, agility, balance, movement, attention, memory, mental health, anxiety,
and stress tolerance. Meta-analysis was available only for the chair stand test, and an improvement
was noted after OCS training compared to control. In conclusion, OCS interventions improves
older adults’ physical-functional, physiological, and psychoemotional health. Our systematic review
confirms that OCS training has high adherence (greater than 80%) in older adults.
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Keywords
Martial arts, Physical activity, Exercise, Elderly, Aging