Maria Helena Rodrigues Moreira

Correlation of physical aptitude; functional capacity, corporal balance and quality of life (QoL) among elderly women submitted to a post-menopausal physical activities program

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of physical activity from the Menopause in Form program on physical aptitude, functional capacity, corporal balance and QoL among elderly women. In addition, correlations among these variables were examined. The present work was a longitudinal study that was quasi-experimental and correlational. A total of 323 elderly women (age: 69.0±5.53 years) participated in this study. Subjects were non-institutionalized, post-menopausal individuals residing at the Elderly Care Center in Belém Municipality (Pará, Brazil) and practiced one activity (i.e., dancing or walking) over a 10-month period. The assessment protocols used were the following: the Fullerton functional fitness test battery (physical aptitude); the activities of daily living (ADL) indices (functional capacity); the Tinetti-scale (corporal balance); and the WHOQOL-OLD questionnaire (QoL). The adopted significance level was p<0.05. Results from the Wilcoxon test demonstrated significant differences for the post-test assessment of functional capacity (Δ%=5.63%; p=0.0001) and general QoL (Δ%=9.19%; p=0.001). These results suggest that the physical activities employed during the Menopause in Form program resulted in significant improvements in the functional capacity and QoL of post-menopausal elderly women.

Physical fitness of post-menopausal women submitted to a physical activities programme

Physical fitness of post-menopausal women submitted to a physical activities programme Study aim: To evaluate the effects of the ‘Menopause-in-Shape Programme’ on physical fitness of elderly women. Material and methods: A group of 323 elderly women lodged in the House for the Elderly participated in a 10-month programme (dancing or walking) and formed the experimental group. Another group of 289 elderly women (control) were sedentary throughout the study. All of them aged 60 - 89 years. Both groups were subjected to the Fullerton Functional Fitness Test battery: chair stand test (CST), arm curl test (ACT), 6-min walk test (6-WT), 2-min step test (2-ST), chair sit and reach test (SRT), scratch test (SCT) and 8-foot up and go test (8-UG). Results: In the experimental group, improvements were noted in CST (by 11.7%; p<0.001), ACT (by 9%; p<0.001), 2-ST (by 2.2%; p<0.001) and 8-UG (by 0.4%; p<0.05) but not in somatic variables. No significant changes were noted in the control group. Conclusions: The Menopause-in-Shape Programme is an efficient tool in improving physical fitness of elderly women even if no somatic effects can be expected.

Effect of three months of periodized hydrogymnastics exercise program on urinary concentration of deoxypyridinoline in older women

OBJECTIVEnTo determine the effect of three months of periodized hydrogymnastics exercise program on urinary concentration of deoxypyridinoline in older women.nnnSUBJECTS AND METHODSnTwenty-six subjects were randomly assigned in two, intervention group (n = 16) and control group (n = 10). The intervention group followed 12-week of periodized hydrogymnastics training program five times a week, 50 minutes of water exercise with work heart rate reserve of 40-50% (1-6th week) increasing the load to 50-60% (7-12th week); the control group was not involved in exercise and remained sedentary. The urinary concentration of deoxypyridinoline was evaluated by high resolution liquid chromatography using the reactive immulite pyrilinks-D siemens medical solutions, pretest at the baseline and at the end post-test of the 12-week of water-exercise. As statistical analyses mixed 2 x 2 ANOVA was used, also percentage changes (Δ %) was calculated.nnnRESULTSnThe results did not show significant improvement (p < 0.05) comparing the interaction intergroup and the measurements of urinary concentration of deoxypyridinoline (p = 0.504), percentage change (Δ %) showed positive improvements in the experimental group of -13.7 (nM/mMcreatine) in comparison with -7.1 (nM/mMcreatine) from the control group.nnnCONCLUSIONnThe present study involves periodization increasing the load heart rate reserve of hydrogymnastics exercise in order to produce grater adaptations, but the results showed than is not possible to infer that hydrogymnastics is effective in increase urinary concentration of deoxypyridinoline in older women, will be appropriated in the future more studies to better clarify the possibilities of improvements between hydrogymnastics and urinary concentration of deoxypyridinoline.