Psychological Effects of Exercise Among Elderly Cardiac Patients

Aerobic exercise has been associated with improvements not only in physiologic functioning, but also in psychologic functioning. This review examines the effects of exercise on several important aspects of psychologic functioning. Many studies of healthy subjects indicate that exercise is associated with benefits in various aspects of psychologic functioning, including enhanced mood and cognitive functioning, reduced psychophysiologic reactivity to stress, and behavioral adjustments. However, the results have been inconsistent, and past studies have been plagued by methodologic problems. Furthermore, few exercise studies have been conducted with older cardiac patients. Thus, the relationship between psychologic functioning and exercise in older cardiac patients is an important area for further investigation.