Efeito da interrupção de um programa de exercícios na capacidade física de idosos e associação com a percepção de saúde no contexto da pandemia de COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: The containment required in the COVID-19 pandemic, especially of the older population, was necessary to contain the spread of the disease. However, this situation brought with it some negative aspects in physical capacity and mental health, which, may be associated with the perception of health. Objective: To evaluate the subjective perception of health and physical capacity of older adults who practiced supervised and group physical exercise in the pre-COVID19 pandemic period. Method: This is a longitudinal retrospective analysis, in which older adults duly enrolled in a UFSCar extension project were invited to participate. Physical capacity assessment (Timed Up and Go, handgrip strength, 30-second sit-to-stand test and single-leg support) took place in March 2020 and as soon as the program's on-site activities were resumed in February 2022. Mental health (Perceived Stress Scale - PSS-10 and Geriatric Depression Scale - GDS) was assessed only in February 2022. In the statistical analysis, the Paired t-test and the Wilcoxon test were applied to analyze the results of physical capacity. The Pearson or Spearman test was used to analyze the correlation between mental health aspects and health perception. Results: Fifty-seven older adults participated in the research, the majority being women (78.6%) with an average age of 73.88 years. Most of them had a good or very good health perception, both in 2020 (91.23%) and in 2022 (78.95%) and 85.72% of them self-evaluated their health as good or very good when compared to other ones in the same age group. The subjective perception of physical capacity, however, had a high percentage of reference for worsening muscle strength (48.21%) and balance (42.86%). It was observed, after two years of confinement, a worsening in the physical tests, except in the handgrip strength test and in the unipodal support with the left leg. In mental health, most older adults did not show symptoms of depression (89.3%) or perceived stress (76.4%) in 2022. Finally, it was noted that the worst results related to mental health was not associated with perceived health after a period without supervised physical exercise. Conclusion: The confinement caused by the pandemic led to a deterioration in the physical capacity of the older adults, except in the handgrip strength test and single leg support with the left leg. In addition, it was observed that a large proportion of these older adults had a good global perception of health, but the subjective perception of physical capacities had a high reference percentage for worsening after the period without performing supervised and group physical exercises. Finally, mental health was not correlated with a worse subjective perception of the physical capacity of the older adults.