Psycho-Electrophysiological Benefits of Forest Therapies Focused on Qigong and Walking with Elderly Individuals.

Youngsuwn Lim ,Wonseok Cha ,Kahye Kim ,Jin-Gun Kim ,Jiyune Yi ,Chang-Seob Shin ,Gue Hong Park ,Seul Gee Kim ,Won-Sop Shin ,Jung-Mi Choi ,Byunghoon Kang ,Jeong Hwan Park ,Hwajin Lee ,Minja Shin ,Boncho Ku ,Jaeuk U Kim ,Jueun Lee ,Jin-Hee You ,Ah Young Jeong ,Taegyu Khil ,Sookja Jeon

doi:10.3390/ijerph18063004

Abstract

We developed two distinct forest therapy programs (FTPs) and compared their effects on dementia prevention and related health problems for older adults. One was focused on Qigong practice in the forest (QP) and the other involved active walking in the forest (WP). Both FTPs consisted of twelve 2-h sessions over six weeks and were conducted in an urban forest. We obtained data from 25, 18, and 26 participants aged 65 years or above for the QP, WP, and control groups, respectively. Neuropsychological scores via cognition (MoCA), geriatric depression (GDS) and quality of life (EQ-5D), and electrophysiological variables (electroencephalography, bioimpedance, and heart rate variability) were measured. We analyzed the intervention effects with a generalized linear model. Compared to the control group, the WP group showed benefits in terms of neurocognition (increases in the MoCA score, and alpha and beta band power values in the electroencephalogram), sympathetic nervous activity, and bioimpedance in the lower body. On the other hand, the QP group showed alleviated depression and an increased bioimpedance phase angle in the upper body. In conclusion, both active walking and Qigong in the forest were shown to have distinctive neuropsychological and electrophysiological benefits, and both had beneficial effects in terms of preventing dementia and relieving related health problems for elderly individuals.

Highlights

16 were screened out due to the exclusion criteria, so 25 subjects remained in the Qigong-centered program (QP) group, 18 subjects in the walking program (WP) group, and 26 in the control group (CN) group at the end of the study; no subject dropped out during the forest therapy programs (FTPs) sessions, while five subjects in the CN could not complete the post-test measurements due to private reasons
61 subjects remained in the questionnaire analysis, 59 in the EEG analysis, 66 in the bioimpedance analysis, and only 32 in the heart-rate variability (HRV) analysis
As arrhythmia was a common health problem in our old-age participants, 37 subjects were excluded from the HRV analysis

Summary

Introduction

Population ageing is a global phenomenon; there were 703 million persons aged 65 years or older in the world in 2019, and it is estimated that the number of older persons will double by 2050. In 2015−2020, a person aged 65 years was expected to live an additional 17 years, which could increase to 19 years by 2045−2050 [1]. In a rapidly ageing population, chronic health problems have replaced infectious diseases as the dominant health care burden. The prevalence of multimorbidity in older persons ranges between 4.0/).

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