Perception of quality of life among elderly people participating in a social project in the city of Pelotas/RS

THE INFLUENCE OF THE PRACTICE OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF ELDERLY

Abstract

Objective: To verify the influence of physical activity in different modalities on the quality of life of the elderly. Methodology: The study included 132 elderly people (72 ± 5.3 years; 117 women) practicing guided physical activity, performed continuously for at least one year in the following modalities: gymnastics, water aerobics and weight training. All of them answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the WHOQOL-Bref and WHOQOL-Old quality of life instruments. In the comparison of quality of life according to the modalities practiced, the Kruska Wallis test was used with a significance of 5%. Results: The domain with the highest average quality of life was Social Relations (86.4±25.9), followed by the domain of Past, Present and Future Activities (81.1±23.5). The domain with the lowest average was Death and Die (50.4±35.7) and Psychological (75.7±20.8). In addition, the total quality of life of the sample was 67.4 (±12.6) mean points. There was an association between the modality and the perception of quality of life, in the domains of the Environment, Functioning of the Sensory, Death and Dying, in addition to the total quality of life (p<0.01). In this sense, the modalities of gymnastics and bodybuilding showed the best results compared to water aerobics. Conclusions: More than the length of stay in the programs, the type of physical activity performed seems to have a greater influence on the quality of life levels of the elderly population.