The importance of kinesiotherapy group practice on the quality of life of the elderly

Abstract

Objective: Analyze the effect of group kinesiotherapy on quality of life, adherence and discontinuation of the program, functional ability, balance and gait of sedentary elderly women. Method: Experimental study, with a sample of elderly women over the age of 60 years (N=30). They were submitted to a kinesiotherapy protocol for twelve weeks after being randomized into three groups: collective kinesiotherapy (CK), individual kinesiotherapy (IK), and control group (CG). Quality of life with SF-36 survey, and the variables of balance and gait with Tinetti test were assessed. Descriptive statistical procedures and the Wilcoxon test were applied to evaluate the effect intra group and the Kruskal-wallis test for analyzing the variance between groups, with significance of p<0.05. Results: Adherence were: CK, n=10; IK, n=10; and CG, n=10. Tinetti test (before x after): CK total score, 9.26 X 13.1; IK total score, 11.37X14.5. There was not improvement in CG. SF-36 (mean scores, before x afer): CK Pain, 33.2 X 70.7; CK Emotional wellbeing 33.3X66.6; IK Functional capacity: 64X 85.5; IK Emotional aspects: 77.7 X 88; IK Functional limitation: 72.5X 100. There were no statistically significant changes in CG. Conclusion: We found no expressive differences regarding the kinesiotherapy program discontinuation between the intervention groups. However, both groups presented significant differences after the interventions in improvement of the emotional aspects, improvement of physical impairments, pain reduction, improvement of balance and gait, what evidences the efficacy and the relevance of this activity.