Performance in simple and dual task activities of institutionalized older adults who perform and do not perform physical therapy

ABSTRACT Was compared the performance in simple and dual task in institutionalized older adults who perform and do not perform Physical Therapy. The study involved 60 institutionalized older adults, 30 that performed Physical Therapy (PTG) and 30 that did not perform (NPTG). To assess the performance in simple and dual tasks activities, all participants performed the subsequent activities: one-foot stance test, walking in a corridor for 30 seconds, stepping up and down for 30 seconds, stand up and sit down on a chair for 30 seconds (simple task). After that, the older adults performed the same activities while holding a plastic cup with water (motor dual task), speaking the days of the week in opposite way (cognitive dual task), and holding a plastic cup with water while speaking the days of the week in opposite way (motor and cognitive dual task). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with significance value p≤0,05. We observed differences between the walking tests and in the get up and sit down tests and, the greater the complexity of the task, the lower was the performance of the participants. In the stepping up and down activity, there was difference between groups where the PTG had a better performance compared with the NPTG group. We observed no differences between groups in the one-foot stance test. The dual task led to a reduction in functional performance in both groups: the institutionalized older adults that performed Physical Therapy and that did not perform.