Telerehabilitation on Physical and Mental Health of the Elderly in the Covid-19 Pandemic Context

Effects of Telerehabilitation on Physical and Mental Health of the Elderly in the Covid-19 Pandemic Context: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, social distancing has become the main strategy to contain this pandemic, causing negative impacts on the physical and mental health of the elderly population. To promote the continuity of offering health services during isolation telerehabilitation was used. Thus, it is important to investigate the effect of a physical exercise program and health education through telerehabilitation on physical and mental aspects in order to establish it as an alternative care for the elderly. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of a program of physical exercises and health education by telerehabilitation on signs of sarcopenia, physical performance, hand grip strength and levels of anxiety, depression and sleep quality in elderly women. Method: In this non-randomized clinical trial, considered a pilot study, eight elderly women (73,00±4,69 years old) will be submitted to 16 weeks of intervention through a program of physical exercise and health education using the Google Meet platform (synchronous online), frequency of 3 weekly sessions and duration of 50' (Initial rest: 5'; Warm-up: 15': Resistance exercises: 20'; Stretching exercises: 5'; Relaxation and final rest: 5'). Before and after the intervention period, the following tests will be applied: SARC-F, Short Physical Performance Battery, hand-grip dynamometry, Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, Geriatric Depression Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. To compare the two moments, the paired Student's T-test or Wilcoxon test (normality assessed by the Shapiro-Wilk test) will be used with p<0.05.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women aged 60 years or older;
• Able to perform all the proposed assessments;
• Not present cognitive impairment according to the assessment of mental status through the Mini Mental State Examination;
• Participate in the supervised physical exercise program in person, prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exclusion Criteria:

• had a frequency of participation in the program below 75%.