Comparison of mental health in senior male citizens with different levels of weekly exercise

AbstractIntroduction: Identification of health condition is the first step toward prevention of chronic diseases and promotion of health level among senior male citizens. The purpose of the present study was to compare mental health in senior male citizens with different levels of weekly exercise.Materials and Methods: Participants included 300 senior male citizens (more than 65 years old) with different levels of weekly exercise (high, medium and low) from Tehran, Iran. Data was collected by Goldberg’s Mental Health questionnaire (GMH-28) and its reliability was obtained by Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.86). Kolmogorov - Smirnov (KS) test was used to determine normality of the data, ANOVA test to compare mental health in senior male citizens with different levels of weekly exercise, and post- hoc Tukey test to examine group differences.Results: ANONA test results indicated a significant difference between mental health of senior male citizens with different levels of weekly exercise (p = 0.05). In addition, Tukey test results showed a significant difference between mental health of senior male citizens with high levels of weekly exercise and those with low levels (p = 0.000), and also between senior male citizens with moderate levels of weekly exercise and those with low levels (p = 0.001). An interesting finding in the present study was insignificant difference between mental health of senior male citizens with high and moderate levels of weekly exercise (p = 0.59).Conclusion: Given the effectiveness of physical exercise on mental health of senior male citizens and the relationship between mental health and average weekly exercise, especial exercise programs are suggested to promote their health.Keywords: weekly exercise, mental health, elderly men