Effects on Depression and Quality of Life

perception of quality of life (QOL) of institutionalized older adults tend to decline with the passage of time. Depression is the most commonly reported psychological problem among institutionalized older adults, ranging in prevalence from 22.2% to 81.8% (Chow et al., 2004; Demet, Taskin, Deniz, Karaca, & Icelli, 2002; Lin, Wang, & Huang, 2007; Mohd Aznan & Samsul, 2007). Osness and Mulligan (1998) found depression might strongly affect the QOL of older adults. Previous studies have reported a moderate to strong association between functional fitness and both psychological well-being (Morala, Shiomi, & Maruyama, 2006; Penninx, Deeg, van Eijk, Beekman, & Guralnik, 2000; Penninx et al., 1998) and QOL (Karinkanta, Heinonen, Sievanen, Uusi-Rasi, & Kannus, 2005; Larson, 2001; Ozcan, Donat, Gelecek, Ozdirenc, & Karadibak 2005; Regan, 2004; Sayer et al., 2006). Therefore, participation in regular physical activity and exercise has been recommended to improve functional fitness and thus enhance the overall wellbeing of older adults (American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM], 1998a; Brach, Simonsick, Kritchevsky, Yaffe, & Newman, 2004; Mazzeo et al., 1999; McDermott & Mernitz, 2006).