Effect of physical exercise program on the balance and risk of falls of institutionalized elderly persons: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of an exercise program on the postural balance and risk of falls of institutionalized elderly persons. A randomized controlled trial was performed. The study was conducted in two long-stay philanthropic care facilities for the elderly in a city in the north of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Participants were divided into control (G1) and intervention groups (G2). G1 did not receive any type of intervention whereas G2 participated in an exercise program three times a week for twelve weeks. The groups were evaluated by the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT). After the intervention, G2 achieved better scores in both BBS and in the TUGT, indicating a significant improvement in body balance and a reduction in the risk of falls compared to G1. The Spearman ordinal correlation revealed that there was a statistically significant association between BBS and TUGT ( p<0.001). G1 did not present positive results compared to G2 both at baseline and in post intervention. It can be inferred that the proposed exercise program was effective in improving body balance and the performance of functional tasks, contributing to an improvement in the risk of falls as a result. REBEC: RBR-5XNYJS.

Prevalência de quedas em idosos na comunidade

“…Essa informação é de grande relevância, uma vez que o processo de envelhecimento provoca transformações no sistema sensitivo-motor, causando instabilidade postural, o que pode predispor o indivíduo a quedas. Nesse sentido, a prática de exercício físico poderia trazer benefícios aos idosos desse estudo, visto que é capaz de favorecer a mobilidade física e a estabilidade postural, associações suscetíveis à minimização do número de quedas (TOMICKI et al, 2016).…”

Equilíbrio, mobilidade funcional e qualidade de vida em idosos participantes e não participantes de um centro de convivência

“…Os achados deste estudo vão ao encontro de Tomicki et al [17], que observaram melhora no equilíbrio de idosos após participação em um programa de atividades físicas e também concordam com outros estudos [5][6][7][8][18][19][20][21][22][23], nos quais foram avaliados o equilíbrio e a mobilidade funcional de idosos ativos fisicamente e sedentários, observando menor mobilidade funcional e maiores déficits no equilíbrio nos idosos sedentários, concluindo então que a prática de atividades físicas contribuiu para a redução do risco de quedas.…”

Functional capacity and quality of life in older women practicing and not practicing hydrogymnastics

“…Still, basing the findings of this study in other research verified that as the number of physical disabilities increase, the score was reduced in the physical domain of evaluating the quality of life. In a study (12) showed that older people with physical disabilities were 36.1 times more likely to have a worse quality of life in the physical domain than those without disabilities.…”