School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 22;19(10):e0311889. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311889. eCollection 2024.
Dance is a promising health resource for older adults, but empirical evidence remains inconsistent. The lack of synthesised evidence regarding program design, dose, and delivery limits understanding of factors influencing participation and health outcomes. This scoping review aimed to map the scope, range, and effectiveness of dance programs for older people, and identify gaps and opportunities for future research and practice.
Searches across five databases (September 2023) identified 148 studies evaluating 116 dance programs (≥4 weeks) for older adults (≥55 years, N = 8060), Dance interventions delivered to clinical groups were excluded. Intervention design and delivery were charted against the TIDieR reporting checklist. Program outcomes including adherence, safety, and positive tests were charted into established taxonomies.
Demographic information, program details, and implementation were often insufficiently reported. Participant groups differed by age range, with underserved communities underrepresented. Programs varied extensively in key factors including dose, prospective 'active ingredients', delivery approach, facilitator expertise, and class size. While dance was physically safe, adherence rates in older adults are comparable to other community exercise programs. Less than 40% of health assessments showed positive change, with more consistent benefits to physical endurance, strength, and function, moderate impacts on psychosocial health, and limited benefits to cognitive and brain health, and falls and falls risk.
Dance is a meaningful, safe, adaptable, and low-cost health resource for older adults. Key opportunities for advancing research include improved access for underserved groups, program suitability assessments, strategies to support adherence and engagement including theory-informed approaches, and incorporation of participant and practitioner insights. Identification of key 'active ingredients' and dance program factors may improve understanding of causal pathways and mechanisms to optimise engagement and health impacts. Stronger reporting practices will facilitate comparisons across studies and more robust evidence synthesis. This review provides a critical knowledge foundation to guide future approaches in dance for health and offers reporting recommendations.
舞蹈是老年人健康的一项有前途的资源，但实证证据仍然不一致。缺乏关于方案设计、剂量和传递的综合证据，限制了对影响参与和健康结果的因素的理解。本范围界定审查旨在绘制针对老年人的舞蹈方案的范围、范围和效果，并确定未来研究和实践的差距和机会。
在五个数据库中进行了搜索（2023 年 9 月），共确定了 148 项评估 116 项针对老年人（≥55 岁，N=8060）的舞蹈方案的研究，排除了针对临床人群的舞蹈干预措施。根据 TIDieR 报告清单对干预设计和传递进行了图表绘制。将方案结果（包括依从性、安全性和阳性测试）图表纳入既定分类系统。
参与者群体的人口统计学信息、方案细节和实施情况经常报告不足。年龄范围不同的参与者群体，代表性不足的服务不足社区。方案在关键因素上差异很大，包括剂量、前瞻性“活性成分”、传递方法、培训师专业知识和班级规模。尽管舞蹈在身体上是安全的，但老年人的依从率与其他社区锻炼方案相当。不到 40%的健康评估显示出积极的变化，对身体耐力、力量和功能的影响更大，对心理社会健康的影响适度，对认知和大脑健康以及跌倒和跌倒风险的影响有限。
舞蹈是老年人有意义、安全、适应性强且低成本的健康资源。推进研究的主要机会包括为服务不足的群体提供更好的机会、方案适用性评估、支持依从性和参与的策略，包括基于理论的方法，以及纳入参与者和从业者的见解。确定关键的“活性成分”和舞蹈方案因素可能有助于更好地理解因果途径和机制，从而优化参与度和健康效果。更强的报告实践将促进对研究的比较，并进行更稳健的证据综合。本综述为指导未来舞蹈健康方法提供了关键的知识基础，并提供了报告建议。
