Profile of elderly users of outdoor gyms for aged people

• Autor(a) principal: Pinheiro, Wesley Lessa
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Coelho Filho, João Macedo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira em Promoção da Saúde
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.unifor.br/RBPS/article/view/5596
• topic: Health of the Elderly; Health Promotion; Health Services.; Salud del Anciano; Promoción de la Salud; Servicios de Salud.; Saúde do Idoso; Promoção da Saúde; Serviços de Saúde.

Objective: To describe the profile of elderly users of the outdoor gyms in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study, comprising a sample of 374 elderly subjects aged 60 years or above, conducted between October 2015 and April 2016, in the outdoor gyms in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará. A questionnaire was applied with questions addressing sociodemographic data, self-related clinical conditions, lifestyle and the use of workout equipment. Weight and height were measured in order to obtain the body mass index (BMI). Results: A majority of the interviewed subjects were women (56.7%, n=212) and 60 to 69 years old (66.8%, n=250). The main self-related conditions were hypertension (40.9%, n=153), high cholesterol (32.4%, n=121) and osteoarthritis (26.2%, n=98). Among the life habits, alcohol consumption (31.6%, n=118) was the most reported one. It was found that 42.8% (n=160) were overweight. A majority had been using the workout equipment for at least a year (68.2%, n=255), exercising up to 30 minutes a day (49.5%, n=185), five or more days a week (51%, n=191) and most of them had perceived health improvement (93.6%, n=350). Conclusion: The elderly presented a young and active profile, whose most prevalent health conditions can be easily managed with regular physical activity practice, and showed similar characteristics regardless of the economic context in which they are inserted.