Effect of increasing the level of physical activity on anxiety and depression in elderly women

Abstract

Objectives: to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in elderly women at the Universidade Aberta à Maturidade (UNABEM); and to verify the impact of a physical exercise program on their anxiety and depression levels. At UNABEM headquarters, physical exercises were promoted twice a week, lasting approximately one hour, for four months. The levels of physical activity, anxiety, and depression of the elderly were analyzed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Version (IPAQ), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), respectively, at the beginning and end of the program. In the sample of 21 individuals, the number of physicaly active elderly women gone from 6 to 12, with the implementation of the physical active program. On the same way, the numbers of elderly women with anxiety categorized as minimum gone from 11 to 15; and minimum depression from 15 to 17. The anxiety and depression levels didn’t show significant difference between physical active and sedentary elderly women, and there were a clinical improvement of the anxiety levels, and a clinical and statistical improvement of the depression levels, after the physical excercise program.