The Effects of a 12-Week Two-Handed Racket Taegeukminton Program on the Improvement of Functional Physical Fitness and Cognitive Function in Elderly Women

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the effects of a 12-week Taegeukminton program, a two-handed racket exercise, on functional physical fitness and cognitive function in elderly women. METHODS: The participants were 27 elderly women aged 65 years or older, comprising an exercise participation group of 15 women (60 minutes per session, 2 times per week) and a nonparticipation group of 12 women. Functional physical fitness was measured using the Senior Fitness Test (SFT), and cognitive function was measured using the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). Data were analyzed using repeated-measures two-way analysis of variance (Repeated measures two-way ANOVA) and t-tests. RESULTS: In the functional physical fitness domain, significant interaction effects between group and time were found for lower- and upper-body strength and lower- and upper-body flexibility (p < .05). In the cognitive function domain, a significant interaction effect was observed for the attention and calculation item (p < .05). In contrast, no significant differences were found in dynamic agility, cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition, or other cognitive domains. CONCLUSIONS: The 12-week Taegeukminton program is effective in improving functional physical fitness and specific cognitive functions in elderly women, suggesting that it has high utility as a new physical activity program for promoting healthy aging.