Effects of stretching on muscle performance and functionality of institutionalized elderly women

INTERVENTION: Initially, 142 women were contacted via the administration of a long term care facility. Sixty‐one women were excluded from the study as they presented limited mobility condition (use of wheel chair, cane or other walking devices), 10 were found to experience health problems and 52 subjects presented restrictions to the practice of physical activities. Thus, nineteen elderly women were divided into 2 groups at random: Control Group (CG, n=09) participated in enjoyable‐cultural activities as playing with balloons or balls, the chair dance and movements of the upper and lower limbs; The Stretching Group (SG, n=07) performed active stretching of hamstrings, 4 bouts of 1 min each. Both groups were supervised 3 times per week over a period of 8 weeks. CONDITION: Effects of stretching on muscle performance and functionality of institutionalized elderly women PRIMARY OUTCOME: Peak torque was assessed by an isokinetic. Both groups were evaluated by The Photogrammetric Method to assess muscle‐tendon length of uni‐ and biarticular hip flexors and hamstring flexibility. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Nil INCLUSION CRITERIA: Eligible criteria were present non‐limited physical and cognitive conditions evaluated by the following: Mini Mental State Exam‐MMSE, Barthel Index and Lysholm Scoring Scale. The MMSE questionnaire was conducted to determine the cognitive ability of the subjects according to education level and it had to be more than 13, while the Barthel Index to establish the activities of daily living (ADL) had also to be more than 13 and the Lysholm Scoring Scale was applied to assess knee functional status which had to set up at 84.