Exercise Intensity and Mental Health of the Elderly in Taiwan
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Yang, Feng-An
Abstract
Due to the high prevalence of depression among the elderly in Taiwan, the objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between exercise intensity and mental health. Although it has been documented that regular exercise is a significant factor associated with older people’s psychological well-being, the optimal pattern of exercise intensity is at best inconclusive.
In contrast to previous studies, this study utilizes a longitudinal survey of the elderly in Taiwan. The nonlinear panel data models are estimated using the fixed-effect method to control for potential unobserved heterogeneity and accommodate the censored and binary outcome variables.
Using personal perceived breathing level as the measurement of exercise intensity, the estimation results revealed that regular exercise contribute to better mental health, but low intensity was much better than moderate intensity. The results also suggested that moderate intensity exercise is not significant of depression, while low intensity exercise had led to twelve percent lower in probability of depression.
Some policy implications can be inferred from our findings. Although the results support that both light and moderate exercise are aggressive tools for improving mental health of the elderly, however, light intensity exercise can be seen as an optimal pattern of exercise for the Taiwanese elderly.
Subjects
mental health
depression
exercise intensity
elderly
panel data
SDGs
Type
thesis
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