Physical Activity and Quality of Life in the Elderly

• Autor(a) principal: Silveira, Michele Marinho da
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Potulski, Ana Paula, Vidmar, Marlon Francys, Sachetti, Amanda, Wibelinger, Lia Mara
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Saúde e Pesquisa (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unicesumar.edu.br/index.php/saudpesq/article/view/1714
• topic: Elderly; Physical Activity; Quality of Life.; Idoso; Atividade Física; Qualidade de Vida

Quality of life (QL) is affected by the lifestyle of each person. A healthy lifestyle includes regular physical activities which are of fundamental importance to an active life during the process of aging in humans. Current research verifies the importance of physical activity to prevent disease, achieve better QL and longevity. Articles from the Scielo Database were researched by feeding the keywords physical activity, QL and elderly people either in the title or in the abstract. Dissertations, books and bibliographies between 1985 and 2009 were used. Five out of eight articles were reports on physical activity, QL and the elderly, whilst two articles discussed the importance of physical activity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and depression in the elderly. The first demonstrated that older people who practiced physical activity did not have difficulties in instrumental activities implied in their day-to-day living; the other reported that QL and well-being were related to social participation of elderly people and that a healthy lifestyle was associated with the habit of physical activity practices and good standards of health and QL. Regular physical activities are highly important for the healthy life and for the independence of the elderly since they slow the physiological changes of aging and improve QL.