Balance, functional mobility and physical activity level in institutionalized elderly who perform and not perform physiotherapy

Abstract

Objective: To compare the balance, functional mobility and physical activity level of institutionalized elderly who undergo physiotherapy and the ones who do not undergo physiotherapy. Methods: Participated 60 institutionalized elderly, 30 who under went physiotherapy (PG) and 30 who didn’t undergo physiotherapy (NPG). The instruments used were the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Tinetti, Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) and Anterior Functional Reach (AFR) Tests. The level of physical activity was evaluated by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Results: There was a difference in TUG (p=0,01) as PG took longer to perform the test (19,5±6,1 seconds) compared to the NPG (16,4±7,3 seconds). A difference was also observed between the two groups in the AFR (p=0,003), with the NPG having a better performance during the test (27,6±6,2cm) in comparison to PG (22,4±5,1cm). On the physical activity level, 43,4% of the PG was inactives and 43,3% of NPG was actives (p=0,015). Conclusions: The elderly people who under went physiotherapy showed less functional mobility, lower anterior functional range and lower level of physical activity than those who didn’t undergo physiotherapy.