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Título

AEROBIC EXERCISE AND IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE IN PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMER'S DEMENTIA: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Resumo

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's dementia (AD) corresponds to 90% of dementia cases in the elderly, and is expressed by functional, cognitive and behavioral impairment and consequent reduction in life quality. Because it is associated, among other things, with low levels of physical exercise, they can lead to a positive effect on the many losses related to the disease. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate evidence of aerobic exercise efficacy in improving life quality of people with AD. METHOD: A systematic review was performed, following the PRISMA check-list, in the SciELO, PubMed, VHL, Medline, Cinahl, PEDro and Cochrane databases, using descriptors. Randomized clinical trials with the variables AD, aerobic physical exercises and life quality were included. The methodological quality was evaluated with the JADAD scale and the data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Six articles were evaluated, published between 2009 and 2020. The sample consisted of 314 elderly people of both sexes, between 65-80 years. The studies obtained an average of 4.5 points on the JADAD quality scale. The diagnostic criteria were established by the DSM IV and the National Institute of Neurologic and Communicative Disorders. About 66.6% of the investigations reported mild dementia, 33.3% moderate and 33.3% did not report the degree. There are reports of Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases in 33.3% of the investigations. The presence/severity of AD was analyzed by the Mini Mental State Examination, and in relation to life quality, the Quality of Lyfe-AD was used, both used in 66.6% of the studies in the pre-test and post-test. Regarding the intervention, 50% of the studies analyzed walking and 50% aerobic exercises of strength, endurance, balance and flexibility, 83.4% with mild to moderate intensity and 16.6% with moderate to high. On average, the programs lasted from 8-12 weeks, ranging from 2-5 weekly sessions, the most common being 3 days/week (50%), and 41.3 minutes/session (±11.17). It was found that 83.3% of the interventions were able to positively modulate the dependent variable Quality of life, evidencing medium-term observation of the effects of aerobic exercises on the improvement of cognitive and functional function. CONCLUSION: In elderly with AD, aerobic physical exercises led to changes in quality of life and improvement in physical and cognitive performance. However, further investigations are needed comparing interventions of high relevance in a larger sample size.

Palavras Chave

Alzheimer Disease; Aerobic exercise; Quality of Life;