Key result
Faster pace during 6 minutes of self-paced walking was associated with significant improvements in fatigue, energy, tension, confusion, and total mood disturbance (P < .05).
Why the study?
The study was conducted to examine differences in mood and motivation among older adults after 6 minutes of self-paced walking, and to evaluate the relationship between walking pace and the magnitude of mood change.
Does 6 minutes of self-paced walking improve mood and motivation in older adults?
Does 6 minutes of self-paced walking improve mood and motivation in older adults?
Even 6 minutes of physical activity can significantly improve mood and energy in older adults, with faster paces yielding greater benefits.
Brief walking may benefit mood in older adults; hypothesis-generating pilot data require RCT confirmation.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to examine (1) differences in mood and motivation among older adults after the completion of 6 minutes of self-paced walking (6MW) and (2) the relationship between pace and magnitude of mood change. METHODS: Eleven participants completed 3 days of testing where energy, fatigue, tension, depression, confusion, mental and physical energy, and motivation to perform mental tasks were measured before and after the 6MW. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to examine changes in mood and motivation, and a bivariate Pearson correlation was used to determine relationships between pace and magnitude of changes in mood. RESULTS: Faster pace was associated with significant improvements (P < .05) in fatigue, energy, tension, confusion, total mood disturbance, state mental fatigue, and state physical energy. A significant relationship was noted between pace and changes in energy, fatigue, state mental and physical energy, and fatigue in the expected direction. DISCUSSION: Results indicate that mood is influenced by pace of the activity. Findings suggest that even 6 minutes of physical activity can improve moods, which may impact how physical therapists approach prescribing exercise to older adults.
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Boolani et al. (2019) studied this question. 6 minutes of self-paced walking (6MW) vs. Baseline (pre-walking) was evaluated on Differences in mood and motivation before and after 6MW, and relationship between pace and mood change (p=< .05). Faster pace during 6 minutes of self-paced walking was associated with significant improvements in fatigue, energy, tension, confusion, and total mood disturbance (P < .05).
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