Subacute blood pressure response in elderly hypertensive women after a water exercise session : a controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: There are few studies relating the practice of water exercises and blood pressure responses. AIM: The objective of this study was to evaluate the subacute blood pressure behaviour in elderly hypertensive women after a water exercise session. METHODS: This was a controlled clinical trial, carried out with 16 hypertensive elderly women with the following characteristics (mean ± SD): age 66 ± 2.94 years, body weight 68.43 ± 12.08 kg, height 158 ± 5.34 cm and body mass index 27.32 ± 4.30 kg/m(2). The study occurred on 2 days, 48 hours apart, with an experimental protocol and a control protocol. The experimental protocol underwent a moderately intense and predominantly aerobic 40-minute session with water exercises for the upper and lower limbs. The control protocol did not enter the pool and did not exercise, but all other procedures were similar to those of the experimental protocol. The blood pressure measurements were performed at times before and every 10 minutes for 30 minutes after the protocols. Student's t-test was used to determine if the averages of the two samples were significantly different. RESULTS: Blood pressure increased significantly but not greatly after the water exercise session, but this did not happen with the control protocol. Systolic blood pressure in the experimental protocol decreased significantly only 30 minutes after the exercise session, which did not occur in the control protocol. Diastolic blood pressure, on the other hand, decreased significantly at minutes 10, 20 and 30. This also did not occur with the control protocol, but an intergroup analysis showed that diastolic blood pressure was similar for the two protocols. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that a prescription of water exercises can be carried out in relative safety with this group of patients, and that systolic blood pressure tended to decrease, as shown by the measurement at minute 30.

Total hip arthroplasty in the elderly: impact on functional performance.

OBJECTIVES: To compare gait and functional performance parameters in elderly subjects who had or had not total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: Our sample comprised 23 elderly subjects (72±6.5 years of age) with a mean of 2.6±1.3 years following THA, named the arthroplasty group (AG) and 23 asymptomatic elderly subjects (70.1±5.9 years of age), named the control group (CG). Case and control subjects were paired by gender, age, body mass index and level of physical activity. The GAITRite® system was used to analyze various gait parameters in four situations: usual speed (US), fast speed (FS), slow speed (SS) and dual task (DT); the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and Timed Up and Go test (TUG) methods were used to evaluate functional capacity. The statistical analyses were carried out using the Shapiro-Wilk test, Student's-t-tests for independent samples, chi-square tests, ANOVA for repeated measurements and paired Student's-t-tests. RESULTS: The AG had the worst results for gait speed (AG=1.18±0.13 and CG=1.39±0.09; p=0.012), symmetry index (SI) of step length (AG=3.60±1.01 and CG=1.12±0.59; p=0.000), SI of step time (AG=-2.65±0.92 and CG=0.99±0.74; p=0.000), SI of stance phase (AG=-2.55 and CG=-1.04±0.50; p=0.005), SI of single support phase (AG=-2.17±0.78 and CG=1.21±0.51; p=0.003), DGI (AG=20.04±1.91 and CG=21.69±1.45; p=0.001) and TUG (AG=14.67±1.94 and CG=10.08±1.49; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Elderly subjects with a history of THA had changes in gait parameters and lower performance in TUG test even 2.6±1,3 years after surgery, which suggests functional impairment.

Total hip arthroplasty in the elderly: impact on functional performance / Artroplastia total de quadril em idosos: impacto na funcionalidade

OBJECTIVES: To compare gait and functional performance parameters in elderly subjects who had or had not total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: Our sample comprised 23 elderly subjects (72±6.5 years of age) with a mean of 2.6±1.3 years following THA, named the arthroplasty group (AG) and 23 asymptomatic elderly subjects (70.1±5.9 years of age), named the control group (CG). Case and control subjects were paired by gender, age, body mass index and level of physical activity. The GAITRite® system was used to analyze various gait parameters in four situations: usual speed (US), fast speed (FS), slow speed (SS) and dual task (DT); the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and Timed Up and Go test (TUG) methods were used to evaluate functional capacity. The statistical analyses were carried out using the Shapiro-Wilk test, Student's-t-tests for independent samples, chi-square tests, ANOVA for repeated measurements and paired Student's-t-tests. RESULTS: The AG had the worst results for gait speed (AG=1.18±0.13 and CG=1.39±0.09; p=0.012), symmetry index (SI) of step length (AG=3.60±1.01 and CG=1.12±0.59; p=0.000), SI of step time (AG=-2.65±0.92 and CG=0.99±0.74; p=0.000), SI of stance phase (AG=-2.55 and CG=-1.04±0.50; p=0.005), SI of single support phase (AG=-2.17±0.78 and CG=1.21±0.51; p=0.003), DGI (AG=20.04±1.91 and CG=21.69±1.45; p=0.001) and TUG (AG=14.67±1.94 and CG=10.08±1.49; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Elderly subjects with a history of THA had changes in gait parameters and lower performance in TUG test even 2.6±1,3 years after surgery, which suggests functional impairment.

OBJETIVOS: Comparar os parâmetros da marcha e o desempenho funcional de idosos com e sem artroplastia total de quadril (ATQ). MÉTODOS: Foram selecionados 23 idosos (72±6,5 anos) após média de 2,6±1,3 anos de ATQ e 23 idosos assintomáticos (70,1±5,9 anos), pareados por gênero, idade, índice de massa corpórea (IMC) e nível de atividade física. Utilizou-se o sistema GAITRite® em quatro situações distintas: velocidades habitual (VH), rápida (VR), lenta (VL) e tarefa dupla (TD). A capacidade funcional foi avaliada pelo Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) e Timed Up and Go (TUG). Na análise estatística, utilizaram-se os testes Shapiro-Wilk, t-Student para amostras independentes, Qui-quadrado, ANOVA com medidas repetidas e t-Student pareado. RESULTADOS: O grupo artroplastia (GA) apresentou piores resultados estatisticamente significantes no que se refere à velocidade de marcha (VM) (GA=1,18±0,13 e GC=1,39±0,09; p=0,012), índice de simetria (IS) do comprimento do passo (GA=3,60±1,01 e GC=1,12±0,59; p=0,000), IS do tempo do passo (GA=-2,65±0,92 e GC=0,99±0,74; p=0,000), IS da duração da fase de apoio (GA=-2,55 e GC=-1,04±0,50; p=0,005), IS da duração da subfase de apoio único (GA=-2,17±0,78 e GC=1,21±0,51; p=0,003), DGI (GA=20,04±1,91 e GC=21,69±1,45; p=0,001) e TUG (GA=14,67±1,94 e GC=10,08±1,49; p=0,001). CONCLUSÃO: Idosos com ATQ apresentaram alterações nos parâmetros da marcha, mesmo após 2,6±1,3 anos de cirurgia, e pior desempenho no teste TUG, indicando comprometimento funcional.