FLEKSIBILITAS DAN SENAM SEHAT INDONESIA PADA WANITA USIA LANJUT

Abstract

Background: As life expectancy gets higher, the demand of health services for elderly starts to grow. Flexibility worsens as one grows older, while Senam Sehat Indonesia (SSI) is an easy exercise for elderly to promote joint flexibility. The aim of this study is to compare flexibility of low back and hips, knees and also ankles between SSI-exercising and non SSI-exercising elderly women. Methods: This cross-sectional study took place at three elderly nursing homes in Semarang and Ungaran. Subjects were 60-year-old women and over. Primary data was taken from the measurement of toe touching test and range of motion (ROM) of knee and ankle using universal goniometer. Data was analyzed with ANCOVA test which compares flexibilities between SSI-exercising and non SSI-exercising subjects by including age and Body Mass Index in the analysis using SPSS 15.0 for windows. Results: Mean results of SSI-exercising subjects, which are -3.4±7.61 cm for toe touching test, 130.3±8.34o for ROM of knee and 62.3±17.20o for ROM of ankle, are all higher than those of non SSI-exercising subjects, which are consecutively, -7.0±11.39 cm, 122.8±12.42o and 57.8±15.21o. ANCOVA test results are not significantly different for toe touching test (p=0.610), but they are for ROM of knee and ankle (consecutively p=0.000 and p=0.003). Conclusion: Knee and ankle flexibilities of SSI-exercising elderly women are significantly higher than those of non SSI-exercising. Toe touching test results are better in the SSI-exercising elderly women, though not significantly different. Keywords: flexibility, Senam Sehat Indonesia, elderly, women