Avaliação de um programa de intervenção com exercícios físicos em grupo para prevenir quedas em idosos residentes em instituições de longa permanência

• Autor(a) principal: Sá, Ana Claudia Antonio Maranhão
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFG
• dARK ID: ark:/38995/0013000002rgq
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tede/7658
• topic: Exercício; Acidentes por quedas; Prevenção de acidentes; Saúde do idoso institucionalizado; Exercise; Accidental falls; Accident prevention; Health of institutionalized elderly; CIENCIAS DA SAUDE::MEDICINA

Falls in the elderly constitute an important public worldwide health problem, because they are an important cause of morbidity and mortality among elderly. This study aimed to evaluate an intervention program with group physical exercises in the prevention of falls in elderly living at long-term care institutions (LTCI). This is a non-randomized clinical trial, conducted with 20 elderly people of both sexes, residents in two LTCI in Goiânia, Brazil. The interventions were based on previous studies and occurred three times a week for a period of 18 weeks, totaling 40 sessions of group exercises, lasting about two hours each one, in which warm-up exercises were performed, muscle strength, balance, flexibility and relaxation. Standardized measures were used to assess falls (self-reports of participants), balance and gait (Performance - Oriented Mobility Assessment - POMA - Brazil), muscular strength (Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer and 30 second chair stand test), flexibility (Goniometer commuting – Fleximeter and Chair sit-and-reach test), fear of falling (Falls Efficacy Scale - International - FES I - Brazil). After a period of twelve months from the beginning of the intervention the decrease in the number of falls was significant (p = 0.046). Significant differences were observed for POMA-Equilibrium (p = 0.001), POMA-Total (p = 0.007), muscular strength of hand grip (p = 0.001) and lower limbs (p<0.001), flexibility of the bending motion of the shoulders (p = 0.001). The intervention by a physical exercises program proved to be adequate to improve balance, muscle strength of lower and upper limbs, shoulder flexibility, helping to significantly decrease the number of falls among elderly participants, but not enough to improve gait and multiple joint flexibility of spine and hip, as well as to reduce the number of elderly who suffered falls from the beginning of the intervention program.