Citation

Justino Borges L, Bertoldo Benedetti TR, Zarpellon Mazo G. Rev. Esp. Geriatr. Gerontol. 2010; 45(2): 72-78.

Vernacular Title

Influencia del ejercicio fisico en los sintomas depresivos y en la aptitud

Affiliation

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brasil; Agência de Fomento à Pesquisa Brasileira Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Ensino Superior (CAPES), Brasilia, Brasil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.regg.2009.12.004

PMID

20206416

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of physical exercise on depressive symptoms and functional fitness in a sample of elderly people enrolled in a physical exercise program run by public sector Health Centers in Florianópolis, Brazil. METHODS: The sample comprised a total of 118 elderly people (101 women and 17 men), who had been receiving treatment for up to 1 year and 4 months and were assessed at predefined intervals, up to a maximum of five times. Evaluations were carried out using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15); International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the physical test battery proposed by AAHPERD (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance). RESULTS: A tendency for depression scores to reduce was observed. However, a statistically significant difference (p=0.008) was only detected among those elderly people who attended 75% or more of the treatment sessions. Analysis demonstrated that the tendency for overall mean functional fitness to increase was statistically significant (p<0.001). Inverse relationships were detected between functional fitness and depression scores at five assessment (r=-0.235, p=0.059; r=-0.206, p=0.099; r=-0.158, p=0.110; r=-0.068, p=0.565), although only one assessment had statistical significance (r=-0.226, p=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated a positive effect from physical exercise in reducing depressive symptoms and improving functional fitness, suggesting that there is an inverse relationship between these variables.

Language: es