Efeitos do método Halliwick no equilíbrio dinâmico de idosas do Distrito Federal

Abstract

The alterations of equilibrium have great importance in the etiology of falls and instability among elderly people cause dependence and functional incapacity. The falls are a matter of public health due to the high mortality an morbidity rate and exorbitant social cost. The study it objectified verify the effect of the Halliwick method in the dynamic balance of elderly of the Distrito Federal. The study was composed of 40 elderly people that were randomly divided into two groups, control and experimental, each was composed of 20 participants with ages varying between 60 and 76 that presented problems of equilibrium, evaluated through the Dynamic Gait Index test. 10 sessions of aquatic physiotherapy using the Halliwick method were done with the experimental group, twice a week. The study it demonstrated that the balance test was better in the one after treatment (18,98 ± 2,28) when compared with the test of balance of the daily pay treatment (17,43 ± 1,39) disclosing to a significant improvement of the dynamic balance of the experimental group [ F(1,38) = 183,26; p=0,001 ] after the treatment with the Halliwick method, at the same time the control group that did not do any specific activity to improve balance, maintained the results. We conclude the protocol applied showed the effectiveness of the Halliwick method in the improvement of dynamic equilibrium in the elderly.