The contemporary age of square stepping exercise on cognitive and cohesion among older adults

Abstract

Background: Cognitive abilities decline as people age, thus engaging in brain-stimulating exercises are critical to keeping older adults engaged. The Square Stepping Exercise (SSE) serves this purpose as it incorporates the physical and cognitive exercise regime. Based on previous studies, SSE appears to be successful in deterring older adults from cognitive deterioration. Due to the pandemic restrictions, this study had to be conducted online. There is a scarcity of research on the effects of online SSE sessions on older adults. Thus, the present study seeks to examine the acute effects of online SSE sessions on the cognitive and cohesion of older adults. Methods: Seven older adults (2 males, 5 females) were recruited for the study. There were six sessions of online SSE conducted twice a week. Assessment on the Inquisit’s card sorting task (MSCT) and the Physical Activity Group Environment Questionnaire (PAGEQ) was conducted pre and post intervention. JASP paired t-test and Wilcoxon sign-rank test were used to analyse the acute effect of cognitive and social functions. Results: The sum of preservative error in MCST, and the 4 subscales in PAGEQ of both the paired t-test and Wilcoxon sign-rank test showed insignificant improvement, p > 0.05, the effect size was small at d < 0.2. Conclusion: After six sessions of online SSE intervention, the older adults showed no significant improvement in both cognitive and social functioning. Future research with a bigger sample size, longer sessions, and improvement of the online approach might improve the outcomes of older persons' cognitive and social skills. Keyword: Square Stepping Exercise, Cognitive Function, Social Function, Older Adults, Online