Evaluation of balance, mobility and flexibility in active and sedentary elderly women

OBJECTIVES: To compare balance, mobility and flexibility in elderly women who do not practice physical exercises and who practice aerobic and resistance exercises. METHODS: Fifty-five women between 60 and 81 years were evaluated, divided in four groups based on reported physical activity in the 12 months prior to assessment: Non-Practitioners of Physical Exercise (NPEF; n=22), Practitioners of Aerobic and Resistance Physical Exercise (PEFAR; n=15), Practitioners of Resistance Physical Exercise (PEFR, n=9) and Practitioners of Aerobic Physical Exercises (PEFA, n=9). Balance evaluation was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale; mobility by the Timed Up and Go test and flexibility through the Sit and Reach test. Anova test and Kruskal-Wallis and Newman-Keuls tests were used for normal and non-normal data, respectively. Level of significance was (p<0.05). RESULTS: It was observed that in the mobility test all groups practicing some form of physical activity showed significantly higher performance (p<0.01) than the NPEF group. Flexibility analysis showed that the PEFA group had significantly higher values (p=0.002) when compared to other groups, which indicate better performance. Balance did not show significantly different among other groups (p=0.093). CONCLUSION: Elderly women who practice physical exercise, whether aerobic or resistance, have better mobility than the NPEF; and PEFA had better flexibility than NPEF and practitioners of other forms of physical exercise.