Impact of academies of seniors: comparison of motor and cognitive ability between practicing and non practicing

Abstract

Introduction: The academies of seniors were created in order to encourage health and social inclusion of the elderly. Objective: This study cross-sectional aimed to analyze the balance, agility, and cognitive capacity of physical elderly practitioners activities at the Third age academies. Methods: 600 elderly of both genders, aged between 60 and 90 years, and 300 practicing physical exercises at the Academies of the Third Age (ATI's) for over six months (group test - GT), and 300 elderly not physical exercise practitioners (control group - CG). Was used the Berg Balance Scale, the Timed Up and Go and the Mini - Mental State Examination. Was used the t test for independent samples, ANOVA, and test Z. Results: The average age of participants was 68.7 ± 5.9 years. The significance level used for all tests was 5%. Results showed that the elderly GT performed better on tests of balance (p = 0.019), cognition (p = 0.007) and agility (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The study showed that practicing physical exercise in older ATI have better balance, greater agility and cognitive ability compared to non-practitioners.