Terapia aquática no desempenho respiratório de idosos da comunidade

Abstract

Throughout aging, physiological changes occur in the cardiac, musculoskeletal, nervous and respiratory systems. Among all systems, the respiratory system is the most conducive to alterations, due to the constant contact with environmental polluting media and for presenting a decrease in lung function. Objective: To analyze the effects of aquatic therapy with the Halliwick method on the respiratory performance of the elderly. Methodology: It was a quasi-experimental study of the type before and after with pre and post test, without a control group. Forty elderly people aged 60 years or over were assessed using the sociodemographic questionnaire and spirometric test. Participants performed 24 sessions, twice a week for 50 minutes. Results: aquatic therapy with the Halliwick method had significant results in the spirometric values: Forced Vital Capacity Predicted (FVC prev), with a p value of 0.039 *; Forced Vital Capacity in the first minute (FVC l / min), with p = 0.022 *; Percentage Forced Vital Capacity (FVC%), with p = 0.005 *; Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second (FEV1 prev), with p = 0.017 * and Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second Percentage (FEV1%) with p = 0.001 *. Conclusion: After the application of the aquatic therapy program using the Halliwick method, there was an improvement in the respiratory capacity of the elderly participants, the improvement achieved was observed in five spirometric parameters. Therefore, aquatic therapy proved to be effective for the elderly surveyed in the current study.