MATERIALS-BASED, IMAGERY-BASED, AND ROTE EXERCISE OCCUPATIONAL FORMS - EFFECT ON REPETITIONS, HEART-RATE, DURATION OF PERFORMANCE, AND SELF-PERCEIVED REST PERIOD IN WELL ELDERLY WOMEN

Objectives. This study extends previous research that contrasted occup ational forms with elderly persons living in institutions to include e lderly women living independently. In addition to differences in numbe r of repetitions elicited, the current study measured heart rate respo nse and perceived rest period duration. Method. Forty-five women over the age of 65 years were randomly assigned to one of three occupationa l forms: materials based (kicking a balloon), imagery based (kicking a n imaginary balloon), and rote exercise (performing a kicking movement without a balloon or imagery prompt). Subjects were instructed to per form the assigned lower-extremity movement until they fatigued and aft er a self-determined period of rest indicated when they felt able to d o another set of movements. Dependent variables included number of rep etitions of movement, heart rate (at baseline, at completion of moveme nts, at end of rest period), duration of movement, and self-perceived rest period. Group means for each variable were compared using analyse s of variance. Results. Groups showed no significant difference in bas eline and demographic data. Subjects in the materials-based occupation al form performed significantly more repetitions and required a signif icantly longer self-perceived rest period than subjects in the imagery -based and rote exercise forms. There were no significant differences among the groups for heart rate response. Duration of movement and num ber of repetitions variables were strongly correlated (r = .95), indic ating lack of independence. Conclusions. The materials-based occupatio nal form elicited a quantitatively different performance than the othe r forms. Given the relatively fuller experience (i.e., interaction wit h an object, clear objective) of the materials-based form, an occupati onal form that has added meaning for the person appears to result in e nhanced performance when compared with forms that lack strong meaning and suggest more limited purposes.