# Effects of an Adapted Sports Intervention on Elderly Women in Need of Long-Term Care: A Pilot Study
## 4 Discussion  
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of AdS boccia on mood state and HRQoL in elderly women requiring long-term care. The baseline of the targeted NLTC group was significantly lower than that of the healthy group, not only in physical functioning, but also in social connectedness. The results of the boccia intervention for the NLTC group showed significant improvements in negative mood. In Japan, the number of people who engage in sports activities to maintain health is increasing annually. Nevertheless, it has been pointed out that the perception of aging and decline in physical function is associated with retirement over sports activity [30], and our previous study also demonstrated the relationship between subjective health and sports activity [12]. Therefore, it is important to provide exercise that can be performed safely even in a state of needing care, as well as to devise exercise content to improve subjective health, such as mood state and HRQoL. This study is the first to examine the effects of AdS, such as boccia, on the subjective health status of elderly women in NLTC compared with healthy elderly women of the same age range. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Variables**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**NLTC Group (\(n=10\))**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Healthy Group (\(n=10\))**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Interaction (Group \(\times\) Time)**} \\ \cline{2-13}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Baseline**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Post**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Baseline**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Post**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**F**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(p\) Value**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{\(\mathbf{n^{2}}\)} \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{Score of POMS2-SF (Profile of Mood States)} \\ AH & 54.4 & \(\pm\)2.6 & 45.4 & \(\pm\)1.5 & *** & 53.2 & \(\pm\)4.3 & 53.2 & \(\pm\)4.3 & & 9.643 & 0.006 & ** & 0.349 \\ CB & 63.2 & \(\pm\)6.3 & 56.8 & \(\pm\)5.1 & & 56.4 & \(\pm\)4.7 & 56.4 & \(\pm\)4.7 & & 1.075 & 0.314 & & 0.560 \\ DD & 65.8 & \(\pm\)6.4 & 49.9 & \(\pm\)3.2 & & 62.7 & \(\pm\)5.8 & 51.1 & \(\pm\)4.2 & & 0.527 & 0.477 & & 0.028 \\ FI & 55.7 & \(\pm\)5.3 & 45.1 & \(\pm\)2.1 & & 49.9 & \(\pm\)4.0 & 63.3 & \(\pm\)2.8 & * & 7.825 & 0.012 & * & 0.303 \\ TA & 58.8 & \(\pm\)5.7 & 43.6 & \(\pm\)2.3 & * & 51.1 & \(\pm\)4.2 & 62.0 & \(\pm\)4.0 & & 8.035 & 0.011 & * & 0.309 \\ VA & 48.1 & \(\pm\)3.0 & 61.7 & \(\pm\)1.9 & & 63.3 & \(\pm\)2.8 & 62.7 & \(\pm\)5.8 & & 2.428 & 0.137 & & 0.119 \\ F & 50.4 & \(\pm\)2.9 & 58.3 & \(\pm\)2.3 & & 62.0 & \(\pm\)4.0 & 49.9 & \(\pm\)4.0 & * & 7.209 & 0.015 & * & 0.286 \\ TMD & 59.5 & \(\pm\)5.5 & 44.2 & \(\pm\)2.3 & ** & 49.6 & \(\pm\)4.8 & 49.6 & \(\pm\)4.8 & & 7.611 & 0.013 & * & 0.297 \\ \multicolumn{13}{c}{Score of SF-36v2 (HRQoL)} \\ PF & 19.6 & \(\pm\)7.5 & 20.3 & \(\pm\)6.2 & & 44.5 & \(\pm\)4.4 & 44.8 & \(\pm\)3.8 & & 0.007 & 0.934 & & 0.000 \\ RP & 34.1 & \(\pm\)5.1 & 35.1 & \(\pm\)4.3 & & 40.1 & \(\pm\)3.8 & 46.4 & \(\pm\)3.5 & & 0.485 & 0.495 & & 0.026 \\ BP & 40.5 & \(\pm\)3.4 & 40.1 & \(\pm\)3.3 & & 43.2 & \(\pm\)3.3 & 49.7 & \(\pm\)3.1 & * & 4.710 & 0.044 & * & 0.207 \\ GH & 44.7 & \(\pm\)4.2 & 52.0 & \(\pm\)3.9 & & 51.4 & \(\pm\)2.9 & 56.4 & \(\pm\)2.8 & & 0.520 & 0.480 & & 0.028 \\ VT & 45.7 & \(\pm\)5.0 & 47.6 & \(\pm\)2.9 & & 55.0 & \(\pm\)2.9 & 56.9 & \(\pm\)2.8 & & 0.000 & 1.000 & & 0.000 \\ SF & 41.5 & \(\pm\)5.4 & 48.0 & \(\pm\)3.4 & & 50.6 & \(\pm\)2.9 & 49.9 & \(\pm\)3.1 & & 2.333 & 0.144 & & 0.115 \\ RE & 40.3 & \(\pm\)3.6 & 41.9 & \(\pm\)4.9 & & 43.6 & \(\pm\)4.2 & 49.8 & \(\pm\)3.1 & & 0.758 & 0.395 & 0.040 \\ MH & 41.9 & \(\pm\)5.5 & 50.8 & \(\pm\)3.7 & 53.7 & \(\pm\)2.3 & 56.4 & \(\pm\)2.6 & & 2.088 & 0.166 & & 0.104 \\ PCS & 27.3 & \(\pm\)5.2 & 25.3 & \(\pm\)5.1 & & 41.1 & \(\pm\)4.5 & 45.3 & \(\pm\)3.0 & & 1.986 & 0.176 & & 0.099 \\ MCS & 52.7 & \(\pm\)4.5 & 59.7 & \(\pm\)2.7 & & 58.3 & \(\pm\)1.8 & 60.2 & \(\pm\)2.5 & & 1.576 & 0.225 & & 0.080 \\ RCS & 41.5 & \(\pm\)3.7 & 43.7 & \(\pm\)4.1 & & 43.7 & \(\pm\)4.5 & 46.2 & \(\pm\)3.1 & & 0.002 & 0.962 & & 0.000 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
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