Capacidad cognitiva y percepción de calidad de vida de personas entre 54 y 78 años de edad que participaron en actividades recreativas.

The goal of this research was to evaluate cognitive ability and the quality of life's perception of older persons who participated in a group of folkloric dance, one of Latin popular dance and other of physical and recreational activities, to determine if the type of recreational activity in which they participated influenced is these two variables. The SF-36 questionnaire perception of the quality of life and Raven test were used. The study was conduct with a sample of 39 women, aged from 54 to 78 years. The 1-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc analysis, applied to the data obtained with the SF-36 and Raven's Test showed that the only significant difference between groups was in the General Health component, between the group of physical and recreational activities and folkloric dance group. Recreational activities group showed more positive perception of general health status than the group of folk dances. No significant difference exists regarding the cognitive ability of the different research groups. Taking into account the maximum value that could be obtained in this test, the averages were within the normal range (between 0 and + 1 SD). In conclusion the three study groups have a perception of positive quality of life and cognitive ability within the normal range regardless of the type of activity involved. The mean of the quality of life questionnaire SF-36 in the three groups were assessed above the average of the Spanish reference values. It should offer recreational programs that provide excellence and efficiency to this age group, taking into account the specific recommendations on the type of recreational activities outlined in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]