Effects of a water-based program on women 65 years and over: A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a water-based exercise and self-management program on balance, fear of falling, and quality of life in community-dwelling women 65 years of age or older with a diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis. Fifty women with an average age of 73.3 years (range 65.5-82.4, SD 3.9) were randomised to intervention or control groups. The intervention group received a 10-week water-based exercise and self-management program compiled by Community Physiotherapy Services and conducted by a physiotherapist at an aquatic centre twice a week for one hour. The control group did not receive any instructions and were not encouraged to change their physical activity, activities of daily living or social habits during the study. Change in balance, measured using the step test, from baseline to follow-up differed between intervention and control groups, with mean (95% CI) between-group differences of 1.7 (0.9 to 2.6) and 2.1 (1.1 to 3.1) steps on the left and right sides respectively. Between-group differences in score changes were also significant in four of the eight domains of quality of life measured using the Short Form 36 questionnaire (SF36; physical function 8.6 (0.4 to 16.8), vitality 12.0 (2.3 to 21.8), social function, and 14.1 (0.6 to 27.7) mental health 10.2 (2.0 to 18.4)), but not fear of falling measured using the modified falls efficacy scale (0.25 (-0.3 to 0.81). It is concluded that a water-based exercise and self-management program produced significant changes in balance and quality of life, but not fear of falling, in this group of community-dwelling women 65 years of age or older with a diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis.

Efetividade do treinamento de resistência à fadiga dos músculos dos membros inferiores dentro e fora d'água no equilíbrio estático e dinâmico de idosos

“…This sample composition may be seen in several other studies 10,12,15,17,18,26,27 , thereby corroborating the literature, since functional limitations occur more frequently among women, and they report suffering from a greater number of chronic conditions 28 .…”

“…Likewise, other studies had shown that muscle training has a positive impact on balance among older adults 8,9,11,13,18 . Our training protocol had a frequency of twice a week, for a period of six straight weeks.…”

“…Aquatic exercises make it possible to create situations of instability by using effects such as turbulence, providing a great amount of sensory information, which in turn promotes improvement in body balance reactions 14,15,[17][18][19][20] . On the other hand, exercises performed in a non-aquatic environment are closer to activities of daily living activities, since they do not cancel out the force of gravity [9][10][11][12][13] .…”

Ai Chi: efeitos do relaxamento aquático no desempenho funcional e qualidade de vida em idosos

“…Tais resultados corroboram com os dados encontrados por outros autores (10,18,19), em que o equilíbrio apresentou uma melhora significante após a execução do programa de hidroterapia avaliado pela Escala de Equilíbrio de Berg e o teste Timed Up & Go, e pelo estudo de Devereus et al (20), avaliado pelo Step test.…”

Measuring and Classifying Land-Based and Water-Based Daily Living Activities Using Inertial Sensors

“…For example, exercising in water condition alters body movement due to increased buoyancy and increased resistance and muscle stress due to the water viscosity [11]. The water condition also provides increased safety during exercise due to reduced risk of falls and injury [12,13].…”