Efecto de una intervención basada en un programa de danzaterapia y ejercicios del programa Brain Gym sobre la coordinación motriz en personas mayores

Laburpena

Background: the aging stage is accompanied by the loss of many capacities, including motor coordination, which is closely related to the falls associated with this age range. Therefore, new strategies should be investigated in physical activity programs to improve motor coordination in older. Aim: to analyze the effect of an intervention based on a dance program supplemented with exercises of the Brain Gym program on motor coordination in older. Methods: A total of 23 older adults (65.21% female) in the age of true senile aging (71 ± 3.69 years) participated in this study. They were evaluated for their eye-hand coordination, dynamic-general coordination and eye-leg coordination before and after a six-month dance intervention complemented with Brain Gym program exercises. The difference post-intervention in the number of correct exercise executions of the coordination evaluated was used to assess the improvement of the level of coordination. The improvement in the motor coordination was also analyzed by sex. Results: After the intervention, all subjects significantly increased the number of correct executions for each coordination (Eye-hand coordination: DM=2.33 ± 0.12, p<0.001). Dynamic-general coordination: DM=2.20 ± 0.14, p<0.001, and Eye-leg coordination: DM=1.80 ± 0.17, p<0.001). There were no significant differences between sexes. Conclusion: A six-month dance program complemented with Brain Gym exercises could improve motor coordination in older adults independently of sex. It could be a new strategy for including in the physical activity programs for older, in order to preserve their motor health, and thus, prevent falls associated with this age.