INTRODUCTION: Cognitive disorders, depression and reduced physical function are increased in the elderly. Fun physical activity increases the hope to life, improved mood and cognitive disorders in the elderly. This study was performed with the aim to determine the effect of fun and regular physical activity on the changes in the incidence of depression and cognitive disorders of elderly women living in nursing homes at Mashhad. METHODS: This clinical randomized trial which was performed on 63 elderly women living in Mashhad nursing homes in 2013 to 2014. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control. The experimental group performed fun physical activity for two months, 3 times a week for 20 minute and the control group performed regular exercise activity of nursing home. The tools used to assess depression and cognitive status in elderly were 15 Item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the form of Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE). Data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 11.5), and Kolmogronov-Smironov, (Persian source) independent t, and paired t tests. RESULTS: The mean score of depression after the intervention was significantly lower in the experimental group (5.17 +/- 2.1) than control group (6.16 +/- 2.2) (p = 0.001). There was no significant differences between two groups in terms of the score of cognitive status before and after the intervention (p = 0.271, p = 0.552). CONCLUSION: Fun physical activity can improve depression in elderly women compared with regular physical activity. But despite the improvement of cognitive disorders in both fun and regular exercise, the rate of improvement was not significantly different in two groups.

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