Resumen de Self-related quality of life of elderly submitted to a 12-week aquatic training program
Bruno Teixeira-Barbosa, Rosane Letícia Santos da Silva, Antônio Batista Chaves de Meneses, Wanduy Brindeiro-Neto, Tarciara Pereira Bacurau, Anderson Igor Silva de Souza Rocha, Larissa Isabelle Soares de Souza, Maria do Socorro Brasileiro Santos
The aging process commonly affects the quality of life of the elderly. Group physical exercise appears as a conservative and cheap method to improve the quality of life in this population. Aim: To evaluate the self-reported quality of life in a group of elderly submitted to a 12-week aquatic training program. Methods: Twenty-eight elderly (66.0 ± 5.8 years, 29.6 ± 3.6 kg/m²) were enrolled and submitted to a 12-week aquatic training program (02 times/week, 01 hour/session). The quality of life in the elderly was assessed by the World Health Organization Quality of Life for Older Persons (WHOQOL-OLD). Results: The aquatic training program promoted significant improvements in overall quality of life score (baseline vs 12-wk: 83.2±8.5 vs 86.6±10.3, p = 0.02) and in aspects related to "past, present and future activities" (baseline vs 12-wk: 79.9±16.4 vs 85.7±16.6, p = 0.04) and "death and dying" (baseline vs 12-wk: 74.3±23.0 vs 83.0±20.1, p = 0.04). None of the other aspects that assess the quality of life presented improvement after the aquatic training program, except for the aspect related to "social participation" which showed a tendency to improve after 12 weeks of an aquatic training program (baseline vs 12-wk: 74.8±19.1 vs 77.7±21.5, p = 0.05). Also, an improvement in the waist-hip ratio of the elderly was observed after the aquatic training program (baseline vs 12-wk: 0.90±0.07 vs 0.89±0.08; p <0.05). Conclusion: An aquatic training program performed twice a week for 12 weeks improved self-related quality of life in an elderly population.
