Impact of a Kinesiotherapy Program on Soil and Aquatic Environment on Motor Fitness and Quality of Life of Elders.

Introduction: Neuromotor losses are those that most affect the functionality of the elderly person. One of the preventive measures is the habit of practicing exercises regularly. Objective: To evaluate the motor fitness and the quality of life of elders before and after intervention, performed on soil and aquatic environment. Methodology: This was a randomized controlled trial, with blind evaluator and total sample of 38 elders, divided into three groups: control (n=15), soil (n=15), swimming pool (n=8). The following research instruments were used: socio-demographic data and health conditions, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Motor Scale for the Elders (MSE) and Quality of Life Questionnaire Short Form-36 (SF-36). The elders were submitted to a physiotherapeutic program during six months. Data were analyzed by statistical software Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 20.0). Results: When comparing motor fitness averages after intervention by study group, the soil group had higher mean values for the fine motor (p=0.021), body scheme (p=0.006), space organization (p=0.011) and general motor fitness (p=0.004) than the control group. In the quality of life, when comparing intra-group means, both intervention groups had higher averages in the general health aspect domain (p=0.001 and p=0.005 for the soil and swimming pool groups, respectively). Conclusion: This study showed that the soil group presented significantly higher means than the control group after the intervention, and the intra-group quality of life improved in both the soil as the swimming pool.