This study determined the effectiveness of a 6-month program of regular exercises for the improvement of functional performance of the elderly living in a nursing home.

CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: O envelhecimento compromete a habilidade do sistema nervoso central (SNC) de realizar a manutenção do equilíbrio corporal bem como diminui a capacidade das reações adaptativas. Para prevenir as quedas, é necessário aprimorar as condições de recepção de informações sensoriais. OBJETIVOS: Comparar o impacto de um programa estruturado de exercícios de resistência muscular dos membros inferiores dentro e fora d'água no equilíbrio estático e dinâmico em idosos. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo clínico, prospectivo, aleatório, em que as variáveis utilizadas foram avaliadas antes e após o programa de treinamento. Foram avaliados 36 idosos por meio de quatro testes: Escala de Equilíbrio de Berg, Dynamic Gait Index, velocidade da marcha, Marcha Tandem. Posteriormente, houve a alocação dos voluntários em três grupos: grupo de exercício na piscina terapêutica, grupo de exercício no solo e grupo controle. Os grupos de exercícios foram submetidos a um programa de resistência muscular dos membros inferiores aplicado durante seis semanas, duas sessões semanais com 40 minutos de duração. Os voluntários foram reavaliados após seis semanas. Os dados foram analisados estatisticamente pelo teste ANOVA univariada para comparação entre os três grupos antes e após a intervenção. RESULTADOS: O programa de resistência muscular dos membros inferiores promoveu aumento significativo do equilíbrio dos idosos (p<0,05) nos testes avaliados após o programa de treinamento. CONCLUSÃO: O programa de resistência muscular proporcionou uma melhora significativa no equilíbrio estático e dinâmico de idosos comunitários. Foi possível inferir também que essa melhora ocorreu independentemente do meio em que o programa foi realizado, ou seja, se dentro ou fora d'água. BACKGROUND: Aging compromises the ability of the central nervous system to maintain body balance and reduces the capacity for adaptive reactions. To prevent falls, the reception conditions for sensory information need to be improved. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of a structured aquatic and a non-aquatic exercise program for lower-limb muscle endurance on the static and dynamic balance of elderly people. METHODS: This was a prospective randomized clinical study in which the variables were assessed before and after the training program. Thirty-six elderly people were evaluated using four tests: the Berg Balance Scale, Dynamic Gait Index, gait speed and tandem gait. The participants were randomized into three groups: aquatic exercise group, non-aquatic exercise group and control group. The exercise groups underwent a program for lower-limb muscle endurance that consisted of 40-minute sessions twice a week for six weeks. The participants were reevaluated after six weeks. The data were analyzed statistically using the univariate ANOVA test for comparisons between the groups before and after the intervention. RESULTS: The program for lower-limb muscle endurance significantly increased balance (p<0.05) in the evaluation tests after the training program. CONCLUSION: The muscle endurance program provided a significant improvement in static and dynamic balance among community-dwelling elderly people. It was also possible to infer that this improvement occurred regardless of the environment, i.e. aquatic or non-aquatic

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) is a simple, quick, inexpensive, and highly reliable method for the assessment of muscle strength in clinical practice and epidemiological studies. This study aimed at describing the HGS values by age group and sex in Brazilians aged 50 years and over, determining age group- and sex-specific cutoff points for muscle weakness, and investigating sociodemographic and anthropometric variables associated with muscle weakness for each sex. Methods: Data from the second wave of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil) were analyzed. HGS was measured in the dominant hand using a hydraulic hand dynamometer. Fractional polynomial regression models were fitted to estimate the percentiles (P5, P10, P20, P25, P50, P75, P90, and P95) of HGS by age group and sex. The P20 of the maximum HGS by age group and sex was used to define muscle weakness. Associations between sociodemographic (racial self-classification, place of residence, schooling, and monthly household income per capita in tertiles) and anthropometric variables (body mass index and waist circumference) and muscle weakness, by sex, were evaluated using logistic regression. Results: The analytical sample included 7905 participants (63.1 ± 9.1 years; 60% women). HGS reduced with increasing age in both sexes. Men presented higher HGS than women in all age groups. The cutoff points for muscle weakness ranged from 28 to 15 kg for men and from 17 to 9 kg for women. In the adjusted analyses, low schooling (0–4 years) was positively associated with muscle weakness in both sexes (in men, odds ratio (OR) 2.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.46–4.12; in women, OR 1.90, 95%CI 1.18–3.06). Low and middle monthly household income per capita also had a positive association with muscle weakness among women (OR 1.78, 95%CI 1.37–2.32; OR 1.32, 95%CI 1.01–1.73, respectively). Overweight had a negative association with muscle weakness among men (OR 0.66, 95%CI 0.52–0.83), and obesity was inversely associated with muscle weakness in both sexes (in men, OR 0.49, 95%CI 0.31–0.78; in women, OR 0.69, 95%CI 0.52–0.92). Conclusions: This study provides HGS values and cutoff points for muscle weakness by age group and sex from a nationally representative sample of older Brazilian adults. The variables associated with muscle weakness slightly differed between men and women. HGS values and cutoff points generated can be used as benchmarks in clinical settings and foster future epidemiological research.

Background: Self-reported measures of decreased aerobic fitness and low physical activity are criteria of frailty. However, research assessing aerobic fitness and physical activity levels associated with frailty is limited. Therefore, the aims of this study were to objectively assess the aerobic fitness and the physical activity level of frail and nonfrail elderly, and to examine the association between frailty, aerobic fitness and habitual physical activity.Methods: This study included 26 elderly (66 to 86 years), randomly selected. The groups (frail/nonfrail) were age and sex paired. Peak oxygen consumption, maximal walking distance and speed were assessed during the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT). Average daily time spent in sedentary, light, moderate and hard activity, counts, number of steps and energy expenditure were measured by accelerometry.Results: All variables measured by the ISWT and accelerometer differed significantly between the groups (P < .02). All aerobic fitness and physical activity variables were significantly associated with frailty, independent of the number of chronic health conditions (P < .05).Conclusions: Frailty is associated with low peak oxygen consumption and low physical activity level. These findings could guide future clinical trials designed to evaluate the efficacy of aerobic exercises in the prevention and treatment of frailty.