The Effect of a Traditional Dance Training Program on the Physical Fitness of Adults with Hearing Loss

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a traditional dance training program on aerobic capacity and muscle strength of adults with hearing loss. Twenty-three adults with hearing loss were separated into 2 groups. Thirteen subjects (6 men, 7 women, mean age, 25.7 +/- 3.9 years) constituted the intervention group, whereas 10 subjects (5 men, 5 women, mean age, 26.4 +/- 5.9 years) formed the control group. Pretraining and posttraining treadmill tests were performed to determine heart rate (HR peak), peak minute ventilation (VE peak), peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak, absolute and relative), and time to exhaustion (min). Peak torque of hamstring and quadriceps muscles at angular velocities of 60 degrees /s, 180 degrees /s, and 300 degrees /s was also measured. The intervention group followed a 12-week traditional dance training program, whereas the control group received no training during this period. Repeated measures of multiple analyses of variance were used to test mean differences between the values of both groups. A paired t-test was used to compare the values within each group prior and after program participation. A significance level of 0.05 was used for all tests. Following the 12-week training program, significant improvements in peak physiological parameters were seen for the intervention group for peak minute ventilation, peak oxygen consumption (both absolute and relative), time to exhaustion, and peak torque values between the 2 measurements (initial and final). No significant improvements in peak physiological parameters and peak torque were noticed in the control group. In conclusion, adults with hearing loss can improve their physical fitness levels with the application of a systematic and well-designed traditional dance training program.