Cognitive function of elderly residents in long-term institutions: effects of a physiotherapy program

The increase in the size of the elderly population demands new knowledge about the process of healthy and active aging. Cognitive disorders are directly associated with aging, and therefore represent a public health problem. A longitudinal and interventional study with a quantitative approach was performed with the aim of analyzing the effects of a physical therapy program aimed at health promotion on the cognitive ability of institutionalized elderly women. Data was collected using a sociodemographic and clinical form and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) at three time points (baseline, after 10 interventions and after 20 interventions). The health promotion program consisted of 20 recreational group activities in weekly meetings lasting an hour. Statistical analysis used the paired Student's t-test and Analysis of variance, with a significance level of p<0.05. The sample consisted of 24 elderly persons, with a mean age of 80.04 years. The results showed improvement in the performance of the elderly, both in overall MMSE score (T0=19.22 vs. T2=28.33, p=0.01) and in the evaluated subcategories "time orientation" (T0=3.35 vs. T2=3.57, p=0.02), "record" (T0=2.61 vs. T2=2.95, p<0.01), "memory recall" (T0=1.78 vs. T2=2.71, p<0.01), "read and execute" (T0=0.43 vs. T2=0.67, p=0.01) and "copy diagram" (T0=0.26 vs. T2=0, 48, p=0.02). These findings suggest that physical therapy for health promotion purposes enables improvement in performance of cognitive activities of institutionalized elderly persons, thus contributing to a better quality of life.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Domiciano,Bruno Ricarth, Braga,Darling Kescia Araújo Peixoto, Silva,Paula Negrão da, Santos,Mayara Paz Albino dos, Vasconcelos,Thiago Brasileiro de, Macena,Raimunda Hermelinda Maia
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Universidade do Estado do Rio Janeiro 2016
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1809-98232016000100057
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