Effects of a Rhythmic Drumming and Movement Intervention on Reaction Time in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults: A Nonrandomized Pilot Study

Driving is often the preferred mode of mobility for older adults in the United States, yet age‐related functional declines increasingly compromise driver safety. Driver reaction time is one of the most critical factors related to accident avoidance and is particularly vulnerable to age‐related decline. Maintaining a physically active, cognitively engaging lifestyle can help attenuate age‐related declines in reaction time, and rhythm‐based exercise programs represent one such avenue. This pilot study examined preliminary evidence on whether a 10‐week Drums Alive program, a drumming‐based aerobic workout program, shows sufficient promise to maintain or improve reaction time for community‐dwelling older adults. Participants enrolled in the Drums Alive program were nonrandomly assigned to the intervention condition (mean age = 69.67 years, SD = 5.86). Twelve age‐ and sex‐matched participants from a previously published study served as the stretching comparison condition (mean age = 69.35 years, SD = 5.07). Simple reaction time (releasing accelerator), movement time (moving foot to brake), and total reaction time were recorded during a simulated brake‐onset task pre‐ and postintervention. There was a statistically significant intervention by time interaction for movement time, with Drums Alive participants showing a greater improvement ( M = −0.054, SD = 0.061) compared to the stretching group ( M = 0.006, SD = 0.044) and total reaction time, with Drums Alive participants showing a greater improvement ( M = −0.080, SD = 0.089) compared to the stretching group ( M = 0.059, SD = 0.165). No significant group differences were observed for simple reaction time. It is important to design music‐based interventions for a specific purpose to support client needs, enhance engagement, and align with evidence‐based practices. Our findings suggest that carefully designed music interventions that engage older adults in exercise may help maintain independence by improving driving‐related reaction time.