The effect of dance movement therapy and walking interventions on loneliness and self-neglect in older people aged 65 and over: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Loneliness and self-neglect of older people are significant public health concerns, often accompanied by recluseness, which can impaired psychological health by preventing living together with society. Therefore, the aim was to evaluate the effect of dance movement therapy (DMT) and walking interventions on the loneliness and self-neglect levels of older people.

METHODS

This study was carried out with older people aged 65 and over registered at a family health center. In total, 48 people were randomized into the DMT (n = 16), walking (n = 16), or control (n = 16) groups. At the beginning and end of the study, all three groups completed a survey including the Participant Information Form, the Elder Self-Neglect Scale (ESNS), and the Loneliness Scale for the Elderly (LSE). The DMT group received the intervention twice a week, for a total of six sessions, while the walking group participated in a walking program for the same duration.

RESULTS

After the interventions, both DMT and walking groups showed significant improvements in emotional loneliness, social loneliness, total ESNS, and LSE compared to the control group. Compared to walking, DMT led to greater improvements in ESNS (aMD = -15.421; 95% CI: -23.915 to -6.927; p < 0.001), LSE (aMD = -1.939; 95% CI: -3.312 to -0.566; p = 0.003), physical health (aMD = -3.545; 95% CI: -6.958 to -0.132; p = 0.039), environmental health (aMD = -6.488; 95% CI: -12.333 to -0.642; p = 0.025), and mental health (aMD = -4.052; 95% CI: -6.835 to -1.268; p = 0.002). Differences in social loneliness (aMD = -0.650; p = 0.049) and social network (aMD = -1.530; p = 0.018) were smaller but significant, while emotional loneliness showed no significant difference (aMD = -0.926; p = 0.056).

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that DMT and walking interventions effectively reduced loneliness and self-neglect in older people, with the DMT group producing greater improvements than the walking group across most subdimensions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The randomised controlled trial study was registered on the Clinical Trial Register (Registration number: NCT05655455). Date of registration: 12/09/2022 https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/ .