ANÁLISE DA INFLUÊNCIA DA EQUOTERAPIA NA QUALIDADE DE VIDA DE IDOSOS CARACTERIZADOS COM A CLASSIFICAÇÃO INTERNACIONAL DE FUNCIONALIDADE

Abstract

Introduction: Aging involves a set of multiple chronic and irreversible changes that cause loss of the individual's overall functional capacity. For a healthy aging and with quality of life it is necessary to practice physical exercises. Equine therapy is a therapeutic resource whose purpose is to rehabilitate the individual in an interdisciplinary way, thus configuring a relevant alternative for caring for the elderly. Objective: To characterize the active elderly through the Core Set of the International Classification of Functionality (CIF) for the health of

the elderly and to evaluate the quality of life through the 36-item Short Form Health Survey- SF-36 in equine assisted therapy. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional,

observational study, in which 10 active adults between 60 and 80 years of age performed 16 sessions of assisted therapy with horses, each lasting 30 minutes. For the evaluation, the CIF questionnaire, the SF-36 and the Mini Mental State Examination - MMSE were used. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed and the paired t-test was also used. Results: The pre-intervention MMSE did not demonstrate cognitive decline. In ICF, domains I, II and III were predominantly rated 0 and 2, while domain IV scores ranged from 3 to 4. In the SF-36, paired t-test demonstrated a significant difference in pain items (p = 0, 037) and social aspects (p = 0.008). Conclusion: Assisted therapy with horses in the elderly is an effective therapeutic alternative in the maintenance and / or improvement of quality of life.