Aerobic Capacity of Elderly Women Engaged in Controlled Physical Activity

• Authors: Rubens da Cunha , Márcia de Assunção Ferreira , Jane Bezerra , Ialuska Guerra , Estélio Dantas
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The objective of this study was to evaluate the aerobic capacity of elderly participants in the family health program at Health Municipal Secretary, who were submitted to a regular program of physical exercise. This experimental study had a sample size of 98 hypertensive elderly women. The sample was divided randomly into an experimental group (EG; n=58, age: 67±6 years) and a control group (CG; n=40; age: 70±6 years). Aerobic capacity was evaluated by a six-minute walking test (WT6). The intervention program was conducted three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), between 17:00 and 17:45 hours, with an intensity that varied from 55% to 75% of the theoretical maximum heart rate. Student's paired t-tests or Wilcoxon tests were utilised in the intra-group analysis (for homogenous or heterogeneous distributions of the data, respectively). An ANOVA two-way parametric test was used to evaluate the inter-group data followed by the Scheffe post hoc test. A value of p<0.05 was adopted for statistical significance. The results revealed an increase in distance travelled in the EG in the post-test relative to the pretest (Δ= 70.58 m; p<0.0001) and relative to the CG post-test (Δ= 116.58 m; p<0.0001). Furthermore, the CG travelled less distance in the post-test than in the pre-test (Δ= -0.78 m; p=0.003). Therefore, we infer that a walking regimen of controlled intensity improves the distance travelled by elderly women in the WT6 by increasing their aerobic capacity.

Keywords

EN

physical exercise; aerobic capacity; six-minute walking test (WT6); elderly women

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Journal of Human Kinetics
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 23
• Pages: 63-69

Dates

published

1 - 1 - 2010

online

24 - 5 - 2010

Contributors

author

Rubens da Cunha

author

Márcia de Assunção Ferreira

• Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

author

Jane Bezerra

• Universidade Castelo Branco

author

Ialuska Guerra

• Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciěncia e Tecnologia do Ceará

author

Estélio Dantas

• Universidade Castelo Branco

References

• American College Sport of Medicine. Diretrizes do ACSM para os testes de esforço e sua prescrição. 6 ed. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara Koogan. 2003.
• Araújo C. O., Makdisse M. R. P., Peres P. A. T., et al. Diferentes padronizações do teste de caminhada de seis minutos como método para mensuração da capacidade de exercício de idosos com e sem cardiopatia clinicamente evidente. Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia, 2006. 86.
• Cader S., Silva E. B., Vale R., Bacelar S., Monteiro M. D., Dantas E. Efeito do treino dos músculos inspiratórios sobre a pressão inspiratória máxima e a autonomia funcional de idosos asilados. Motricidade, 2006. 3:279-88.
• Cahalin L. P., Mathier M. A., Semigran M. J., Dec G. W., DiSalvo T. G. The Six-Minute Walk Test Predicts Peak Oxygen Uptake and Survival in Patients With Advanced Heart Failure. Chest, 1996. 110:325-32.[PubMed][Crossref]
• Carvalho M. J., Marques E., Mota J. Training and detraining effects on functional fitness after a multicomponent training in older women. Gerontology, 2008. 55:41-8.[WoS][PubMed]
• V Diretrizes Brasileiras de Hipertensão Arterial. Arquivo brasileiro de Cardiologia 2007. 89. Disponível em
• Ehsani A. A., Spina R. J., Peterson L. R., et al. Attenuation of cardiovascular adaptations to exercise in frail octogenarians. J Appl Physiol, 2003. 95:1781-8.[PubMed]
• Evans E. M., Racette S. B., Peterson L. R., Villareal D. T., Greiwe J. S., Holloszy J. O. Aerobic power and insulin action improve in response to endurance exercise training in healthy 77-87 yr olds. J Appl Physiol, 2005. 98:40-5.
• Fechio J. J., Malerbi F. E. K. Adesão a um programa de atividade física em adultos portadores de diabetes. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab, 2004. 48.
• Fiorina C., Vizzardi E., Lorusso R., et al. The 6-min walking test early after cardiac surgery. Reference values and the effects of rehabilitation programme. European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery, 2007. 32:724-9.[WoS]
• Gremeaux V., Iskandar M., Kervio G., Deley G., Pérénnou D., Casillas J. M. Comparative analysis of oxygen uptake in elderly subjects performing two walk tests: the six-minute walk test and the 200-m fast walk test. Clinical Rehabilitation, 2008. 22:162-8.[WoS][Crossref]
• Guenard H., Marthan R. Pulmonary gas exchange in elderly subjects. Eur Respir J, 1996. 9:2573-7.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Guimarães A. C., Rocha C. A. Q. C., Gomes A. L. M., Cader S. A., Dantas E. H. M. Effects of a program of physical activity on the autonomy level of elderly participants in the program of the family health. Fit Perf J, 2008. 7(1):5-9.
• Haykowsky M., McGavock J., Vonder Muhll I., et al. Effect of Exercise Training on Peak Aerobic Power, Left Ventricular Morphology, and Muscle Strength in Healthy Older Women. Journal of Gerontology, 2005. 60A:307-11.
• Kłapcińska B., Kroemeke A., Tataruch M., et al. Effects of Long-term Regular Exercise on Cognitive Function, Lipid Profile and Atherogenic Biomarkers in Middle-aged Men. Journal of Human Kinetics, 2008; 20:89-98.
• Marfell-Jones M., Olds T., Stewart A., Carter L. International standards for anthropometric assessment. ISAK: Potchefstroom.2006.
• Matsudo S., Matsudo V., Neto T. Impacto do envelhecimento nas variáveis antropométricas, neuromotoras e metabólicas da aptidão física. Rev Bras Ciěn e Mov, 2000; 8:21-32.
• Mynarski W., Rozpara M., Czapla K., Garbaciak W. Aerobic Capacity of Students with Different Levels of Physical Activity as Assessed by IPAQ. Journal of Human Kinetics, 2009; 21:89-96.
• Nicolau J. C., Timerman A., Piegas L. S., Marin-Neto J. A., Rassi A. J. Guidelines for unstable angina na non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction of the Brazilian society of cardiology Arq Bras CArdiol, 2007; 89:e89-e131.
• Perecin J., Domingos N., Gastaldi A., Souza T., Cravo S., Sologuren M. Teste de Caminhada de Seis Minutos em Adultos Eutróficos e Obesos. Rev bras fisioter, 2003; 7:245-51.
• Pieron M. Lifestyle, practice, of physical activity and sports, lifequality. Fitness & Performance Journal. Fit Perf J, 2004; 3(1):10-17.
• Rikli R. E., Jones C. J. Senior fitness test manual. California State University: Human Kinetics.2001.
• Roca J., Rincón F. B., Casan P., Ortega F., Puente-Maestu L., Togores B. Pruebas de exercício cardiopulmonar. Arch Bronconeumol, 2001; 37:247-68.[Crossref]
• Solway S., Brooks D., Lacasse Y., Thomas S. A qualitative systematic overview of the measurement properties of functional walk tests used in the cardiorespiratory domain. Chest, 2001; 119:256-70.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Soto P. F., Herrero P., Schechtman K. B., et al. Exercise training impacts the myocardial metabolism of older individuals in a gender-specific manner. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 2008; 295:H842-H50.[WoS]
• Steg P. G., Goldeberg R. J., Gore J. M., et al. Baseline characteristics, management practices and in-hospital outcomes of patient hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes in the global registry of acute coronary events (GRACE). Am J Cardiol, 2002; 90:358-63.[PubMed][Crossref][WoS]
• Toraman N. F. Short term and long term detraining: is there any difference between young-old and old people? Br J Sports Med, 2005; 39:561-4.[PubMed][Crossref]
• Weiss E. P., Spina R. J., Holloszy J. O., Ehsani A. A. Gender differences in the decline in aerobic capacity and its physiological determinants during the later decades of life. J Appl Physiol, 2006; 101:938-44.[PubMed][Crossref]
• W. M. A. - World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. 59th WMA General Assembly, Seoul, October 2008.
• Zaslavsky C., Gus I. Idoso. Doença cardíaca e comorbidades. Arq Bras Cardiol, 2002;79:635-9.
• Zugck C., Krüger C., Dürr S., et al. Is the 6-minute walk test a reliable substitute for peak oxygen uptake in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy? European Heart Journal, 2000; 21:540-9.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10078-010-0008-3