The Effect of Ten-week Ballroom Dance Therapy on Cognitive Abilities, Balance, and Perceived Stress Among Individuals over-60s / El efecto de la terapia de baile de salón de diez semanas sobre las capacidades cognitivas, el equilibrio y el estrés percibido entre personas mayores de 60 años

Nowadays, aging is a popular research topic. Several articles describe the positive effects of dance and music therapies on older individuals' cognitive and physical abilities. Our research examined the effects of ten-week dance therapy on senior participants over 60s. We also assessed their cognitive abilities, physical endurance, and perceived stress levels. The Vienna Test System, Determination Test (VTS DT) was performed to assess the cognitive stress for 12 minutes. We measured a significant increase in the effect of the training program. We observed an elevation in mean pre-training values. After the intensive ballroom dance program, there was also a significant improvement, in mean score. We also examined the acute effect of a single dance class. We observed a significant improvement in acute values. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSS-14) and a Flamingo balance test before and after the dance program. We used a paired T-test to determine the effect of dance therapy on participants' perceived stress. The results indicated a significantly improved ability to balance after completing the dance program. We may conclude that the dance program has improved the current cognitive abilities of the elderly. Practical implications of our study includes improvement the quality of life, and support healthy lifespan of the elderly. Future studies, with higher number of participants, involving various physical activities,would be helpful to support our hypothesis.(AU)

[Attitudes of Hungarian adults toward use of opioids in pain management]. / Opioidokkal történo fájdalomcsillapítással kapcsolatos attitudök magyar felnottek körében.

INTRODUCTION: Though the most effective pain medication is already available in Western countries, cancer pain is often undertreated. The primary causes of this phenomenon are the fears of opioids, which haven't been explored systematically in Hungary. AIMS: Exploration of the attitudes toward opioids among healthy Hungarian adults. METHODS: The participants (88/143 male/female, 29.47 ± 11.05 years) were asked to complete story of a patient who was suggested to accept opioid therapy. The stories were rated by independent raters on Likert-scales to access the strength of attitudes toward pain medication [1]. RESULTS: Only an average 29.6% of the stories expressed positive attitudes, but varied fears (of addiction: 20.9%, nearing death: 10.5%, the inattention of the doctor: 4.7%), and hopes connected to alternative therapies (4.7%) emerged, too. CONCLUSIONS: The compliance of the patient and his/her family members is a very important factor of effective medical treatment, therefore individual attitudes must be considered.