The Contribution of Physical and Mental Trainings to Depression and Insomnia Disorders in Older Adults

Introduction: Aging is associated with biological changes and may lead to various cognitive behavioural disorders such as insomnia and depression. Non-pharmacological interventions with pharmacological therapies would be effective, economical, and safe. The present study compared the effect of muscle strength-range of movement (MSROM) training and digital game on insomnia and depression disorders in older women and men. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental pre/post- intervention. After recruitment invitations and screening, 92 participants were randomly assigned into three groups including physical training (PT; n = 31), mental training (MT; n = 30) and control group (CG; n = 31). Insomnia and depression were measured by insomnia severity index and geriatric depression scale (short form), respectively. The training programs were held 3 days per week for 8 weeks. Physical training began with 25 minutes in the first week and finished with 60 minutes in the eighth week using Borg rating of perceived exertion within the desired 13 to 15 range. A mental game has been launched on Android operating systems on cell phones/tablets which consisted of 4 games with 3 levels. Differences in variables were assessed via Factorial ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test (p ≤ 0.05). Results: The Bonferroni post-hoc test revealed significant decreases in PT compared with CG in men (p = 0.010) and women (p = 0.038) regarding insomnia. Furthermore, there were significant decreases in PT compared with CG (p = 0.005) and PT compared with MT (p = 0.003) in men regarding depression; Significant decreases were also observed through comparing PT with CG (p = 0.043) in women regarding depression. Conclusion: Findings demonstrated that MSROM training improved moderate insomnia and mild depression compared to smart thinker training in older women and men regardless of gender.