Evaluation of muscle torque and sarcopenia in women who practice aquatic physiotherapy

Abstract

The increase in life expectancy often leads to the prevalence of some chronic-degenerative diseases related to aging, such as osteoporosis and sarcopenia. This is a retrospective and prospective research, with quantitative approach of the quasi-experimental kind, with pre- and post-test, without control group, using a protocol of exercises in aquatic physiotherapy.  Sample with 13 women, between 57 and 84 years old, with a medical diagnosis of osteopenia / osteoporosis, confirmed by bone densitometry. A protocol was applied in aquatic mean, with the duration of 30 week, twice a week. The participants were submitted to pre and post-intervention evaluations, measuring their muscle force through torque of quad muscle with dynamometry, and sarcopenia through Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) test. The results, after the aquatic physiotherapy protocol, showed that the torque on both sides was statistically significant; however, the non-dominant side (p = 0.0059) showed greater strength gain compared to the dominant member (p=0.01). The results of sarcopenia were also statistically significant after aquatic protocol (p=0.03458), from which it can be concluded that aquatic physiotherapy is effective in muscle torque and sarcopenia.