Effects of a physical exercise program for elderly ladies over neuromotor and anthropometric variables and fear of falling

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of a 19-month physical exercise program over lower limb strength (LLS), agility (AGI), body mass index (BMI) and fear of falling (FFALL) of functionally active elderly. Twenty eight elderly (68 ± 7 years) enrolled in a physical exercise program developed by the Northern Paraná University (Londrina-Pr). Classes were held twice a week, each lasting 70 minutes. The variables LLS, AGI, BMI and FFALL were evaluated in three stages (before, 7th and 19th months into the program), respectively by the tests of getting up from the chair in 30 seconds (Rikili & Jones, 1999), sitting and getting up from the chair and moving around the house (Okuma & Andreotti, 2004), anthropometric measurements weight and height (Matsudo, 2004) and an interview. Data were evaluated by descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests with a significance p < 0.05. The results show that during the program, the elderly ladies had significant improvements on the variables LLS and AGI but not on BMI and FFALL, and when separated by BMI levels, the ladies with normal levels presented a better performance than the overweighed ones. It was then concluded that the non decrease of the fear of falling during the program, despite the improvement of LLS and AGI, is due to the objectives of the program which did not aim at the elderly ladies' beliefs towards falls.