Dancing as an Alternative to the Traditional Exercising in Older Adults With Cardiac Diseases

Overview

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study (2017) 64 million people worldwide are living with Heart Failure (HF). Risk factors of HF include age, history of coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking and low physical activity. There is clear evidence that regular physical activity can increase life expectancy and improve cognitive function, and delay functional disabilities associated with aging. Physical Activity and exercise training is considered as one of the components cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation program. There is a growing scientific support that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) slows, stabilizes or regresses cardiovascular disease (CVD). In addition, it has been shown that CR programs significantly reduce re-hospitalisation and death from CVDs by up to 25%. Despite of strong evidence of the positive effects of exercise training in Chronic HF patients, the adherence to the exercise component of CR is still not at the level recommended by the international physical activity guidelines. Patients participating in physical activity programs are faced with several obstacles, such as orthopaedic limitations to exercise, or being severely overweight. Another most common barriers for participating in CR are family and employment obligation, psychological well-being and age ("CR is only for adults"). Participation of older adults in physical exercises programs is highly influenced by their personal interest in activity type, engagement and perceived advantages. The author is also mentioned that engaging in different types of activities or adding new elements to the traditional exercises may increase and maintain individuals' interest and engagement in physical activity. This will improve their commitment t the regular exercise and leading to improved health outcomes. World Health Organisation defines dance as a type of physical activity and recommends its implementation to develop physical skills, especially in the least active population groups. Scientists highlight the advantages of dancing over traditional strength and balance exercises that are often performed individually, whereas dance is predominantly a group activity. According to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani traditional dances represent the ancient culture of the country and are popular activity among both young and older people. Azerbaijani dancing has a major social role in bringing people together during celebration of National Holidays and family events. However, use of traditional dancing in general, and Azerbaijani dances particularly, as an intervention in CR programs has not been well established. Screening of reports published since 2015, revealed only randomized control studies which identified the dance intervention as national/cultural dancing style. All those studies demonstrated positive impact of traditional dancing on the functional capacity and psychological condition of people with chronic diseases. More research on the use of the cultural dancing as an alternative to traditional exercise programs as a part of CR could provide clearer evidence about the role and effectiveness of traditional dance in CR. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of Azerbaijani Cultural Dances on cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life of patients with chronic HF.