Este artigo está licenciado sob forma de uma licença Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional, que permite uso irrestrito, distribuição e reprodução em qualquer meio, desde que a publicação original seja corretamente citada. ABSTRACT AIMS: To evaluate balance, functional mobility and quality of life in elderly participants and non-participants of a senior citizen center. METHODS: Subjects aged 60 or over, participating in a senior citizen center in the city of Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, in Santa Catarina (Participating Group: PG) were evaluated. As a control group for comparison, elderly residents of the same community who did not participate in any senior center (Non-Participating Group: NPG) were included. Subjects with locomotion disabilities, neurological diseases that affected the gait or balance, and inability to understand the general commands indispensable to the tests were excluded. The sample was non-probabilistic intentional. To evaluate the balance, the Berg Balance Scale was applied, and for assess functional mobility we used the Timed Up and Go and the Anterior Functional Scope tests. Quality of life was assessed by the SF-36 questionnaire. The data were treated by descriptive and inferential statistics, considering p≤0.05 as significant. RESULTS: Fifty-six elderly participated, being 28 of PG and 28 of NPG. By means of the Berg Balance Scale, we found a better balance in PG (mean 53.2±2.1 points) compared to NPG (mean 48.8±6.2 points) (p=0.001). In the Timed Up and Go test, PG spent in average less time to perform the test (9.5±1.5 seconds) than NPG (13.1±5.1 seconds) (p=0.001). We observed a better quality of life in all domains of SF-36 in PG when compared to NPG (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Elderly people who participated in a senior citizen center presented better balance, functional mobility and quality of life than elderly people from the same community who did not participate in senior centers.

Este estudo analisou a eficácia de um programa de 12 semanas de exercícios em circuito no equilíbrio e na mobilidade funcional de idosos institucionalizados, sendo este aplicado três vezes por semana, com duração de 15 a 20 minutos por sessão e embora não tenham ocorrido melhoras significativas, acredita-se que o circuito foi efetivo para manutenção do equilíbrio e da mobilidade funcional dos idosos participantes do estudo auxiliando na prevenção das perdas progressivas decorrentes do processo de envelhecimento.