RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL FITNESS AND SELF-RATED HEALTH IN ELDERLY INVOLVED IN AN INTERVENTIONAL EXERCISE PROGRAM

Abstract

Physical activity is directly associated to an increased quality of life among elderly people by increasing their functional capacity and independence. OBJECTIVE: Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between self-rated health (SRH) and functional capacity of the elderly. We hypothesized that subjects who obtained better results in functional tests tend to have a better SRH. METHODOLOGY: These are preliminary results of an interventional program developed in Maia/Portugal, comprised of 900 subjects, aimed to evaluate the effects of different training methodologies. Our sample consists of 167 subjects, aged 60 to 74. The functional capacity was measured by Rikli & Jones (1999) functional fitness battery. The SRH was evaluated by the international questionnaire Medical Outcome Study – 36 items from health survey- short version (SF-36). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (Windows version 17.0) and the level of significance was set up at p≤0.05. RESULTS: SRH was significantly associated with four different functional tests (p≤0.05). Subjects who belong to the 4th quartile in tests related to locomotion correspond to those subjects who had the best perception of health. CONCLUSION: We observed that SRH is associated to functional fitness, especially in those tests related to locomotion capacity.