Disabled elderly residents in nursing homes often do not receive individual physical therapy treatment sessions. Instead, group recreational activities are sometimes performed. There has been little research done in this field, and the intellectual and physical effects of participation frequency in recreational programs has not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not participation frequency in recreational activities has an effect on the intellectual and physical abilities of disabled elderly nursing home residents. Forty-three subjects, with an average age of 80.2 years, were divided into two groups, and the study was conducted for one year. Group A subjects participated in recreational activities 1.5 times per month, and Group B subjects received activities on an average of 12 times per month. Activities included reading the Buddhist Sutras, crafts, bench soccer, balloon volley ball, and group games. The Japanese Hasegawa Revised Dementia Rating Scale (HDS-R) was used to measure the intellectual abilities of the subjects, and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) was used to measure their physical capacities. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test was used to assess the differences between groups and between periods. The correlation between the HDS-R and FIM results was determined by the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Initially, the HDS-R scores between Groups A and B were not significantly different. However, after one year, the HDS-R scores for the subjects in Group A were not only significantly inferior to those of Group B, but there was also a significant decrease in the scores at the end of the study. The FIM scores of Group A were significantly inferior to those of Group B initially, and a significant decrease was found at the end of the study. The relationship between intellectual and physical abilities for Group A subjects was significant at the initial stage of the study but not at the end. Both the HDS-R and FIM scores for the subjects of Group B were maintained at the same level throughout the study. Therefore, taking an active part in recreational programs that include physical activities may help in the prevention of decreased intellectual and physical functions for disabled elderly persons residing in nursing homes.

.特別養護老人ホーム(以下, 特養)入所高齢障害者に対し, 個々に理学療法が実施されることは少ない。グループによるレクレーション活動はよく実施されるが, この分野における研究はほとんど見当たらない。レクレーションプログラムへの参加頻度が知的および身体的に及ぼす効果は未だ明らかにされていないため, レクレーション活動への参加頻度が特養入所高齢障害者の知的及び身体的能力に影響を与えるかどうかについて研究を行った。平均年齢80.2歳の43名の被験者を二つのグループに分け, 1年間調査を行った。A群被験者は, 月平均1.5回のレクレーション活動に参加し, B群被験者は月平均12回のレクレーション活動に参加していた。グループでのレクレーション活動は, お経, 手工芸, ベンチサッカー, 風船バレーとゲームであった。改訂版長谷川式簡易知能スケール(以下HDS-R)を被験者の知的能力の測定に使用し, 機能的自立度評価(以下FIM)を身体的許容能の測定に使用した。Wilcoxonの順位和検定を群間及び期間での差の検定に使用した。HDS-RとFIMの相関についてはSpearmanの相関係数を用いた。開始当初, A群及びB群間のHDS-Rスコアに有意差は認められなかった。しかし一年後B群と比較しA群被験者のHDS-Rスコアが有意に低いのみでなく, 最終調査時でA群のスコアの有意な減少を示した。FIMスコアについては, B群と比較しA群において調査開始時に有意に低い値を示し, 最終調査時においては有意に減少していた。A群被験者における精神及び身体的能力間の関係は, 調査開始時点では有意差を認めたが最終時は有意差を認めなかった。B群被験者のHDS-RとFIMの両スコアは, 調査期間を通して同じレベルを維持していた。身体的活動を含むレクレーションプログラムにおいて, 活動的要素を取り入れることは, 特養入所高齢障害者の知的及び身体的機能の低下防止に役立つ可能性が考えられた。

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