Avaliação da eficácia do treino de equilíbrio na prevenção de quedas em idosos com demência leve ou moderada

Abstract

Proportionally, the elderly population is the one that grows the most in Brazil, with the consequences of the aging of the population, the health profile changes, occurring more frequently to the complications associated with chronic-degenerative diseases such as dementias. Fall prevention is of paramount importance for its potential to reduce morbidity and mortality, hospital costs and social isolation. Prevention programs have the advantage of, in parallel, improving health as a whole as well as quality of life, and its practice is especially important for the older age group. A search was conducted in the Medline and PEDro databases for papers documenting the effects of balance training on fall prevention. The data were extracted in a standardized way from each study and the methodological quality was evaluated using the PEDro scale. The research was conducted by two independent examiners, in the Medline, Lilacs, Scielo and PEDro databases. The following terms were used in the research: "prevention", "balance training", "falls", "dementia", "seniors". One hundred and thirty - one articles found, 23 preselected and 4 articles were included in the study. Only one of the studies presented significant relevance in the risk of falls. The other studies found differences in the incidence and risk of falls but did not present a significant difference between the groups. There is no evidence that multi-component exercises are effective in reducing the risk of falls in patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment. The results of this study demonstrate that elderly individuals with cognitive impairment may benefit from exercise programs but there is no evidence to correlate the effectiveness of training in the prevention of falls in elderly individuals with cognitive impairment.