Assessments
All subjects involved in this study underwent clinical evaluations and
performed some physical and cognitive tests with the research team
composed of physicians and physiotherapists in an appropriate
environment, before and after the intervention period. To avoid possible
bias, the researchers who took care of the data treatment were blinded
to the results. A physical and general clinical evaluation was performed
with collection of socioeconomic, demographic, anthropometric data,
self-referred comorbidities, sleep quality evaluation, daytime
sleepiness, risk of obstructive sleep apnea, functional mobility and
level of physical activity, according to an established
protocol.18,19
The anthropometric variables evaluation and body mass were obtained
using a stadiometer Welmy® (Welmy, São Paulo, Brazil) brand scale, with
a capacity of 150 kilograms (kg); the height, in meters (m), was
measured by means of a vertical scale; to measure the circumference of
the abdomen was used an anthropometric tape of the brand Cescorf®
(Cescorf Equipamentos para Esporte Ltda., Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil) and
the body mass index (BMI) was calculated from the weight in kg divided
by the height in meters squared. The physical activity level was
assessed through the International Questionnaire of Physical Activity
(IPAQ) adapted for the elderly.20 It is an instrument
that allows estimating the weekly energy expenditure of physical
activities related to work, transportation, domestic tasks, and leisure,
carried out for at least 10 continuous minutes, with moderate and / or
vigorous intensity during a normal / usual week. This variable was
dichotomized, and those who performed less than 150 minutes per week of
moderate and / or vigorous and active physical activity were those who
performed more than 150 minutes per week. Functional mobility was
assessed using the Timed Up and Go test (TUG).21 The
procedure followed was described in the original test, where the
participant starts in the sitting position in a chair with arms (height
of the seat of 45 cm and arms of 65 cm), firm to the floor, with the
back resting on the backrest of the chair, being guided to stand up,
walk a distance of three meters ahead, make a 180º turn in a marking
made in the ground, return and sit again, running as fast as possible,
but safely and comfortably, minimizing the possibility of accidents. A
Cassio® HS-70W (Casio Computer LTDA, São Paulo, Brazil) chronometer was
used from the verbal command ”already” at the beginning of the test and
stopped when the participant sat down again. All the subjects performed
the test twice, and in the second the execution time was registered. To
evaluate the QOL, was applied the World Health Organization
questionnaire Quality of Life Group-old
(WHOQOL-OLD)22, which contains six facets of 4 items
each, evaluated by the Likert scale (1 to 5 points): Facet I -
”Operation of Sensory”; Facet II - ”Autonomy”; Facet III - ”Past
Activities, Gifts and Future”; Facet IV - ”Social Participation”; Facet
V - ”Death and Dying”; Facet VI - ”Intimacy”. Each of the facets has 4
items, so for all facets the score of the possible values can range from
4 to 20, and the scores of these six facets or the values of the 24
items can be combined to produce a ”global” quality of life in the
elderly.