Influence of a Pilates exercise program on the quality of life of sedentary elderly people: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

This study evaluated the influence of a Pilates exercise program on the quality of life (QOL) of sedentary elderly women. Twenty-four elderly women (aged 64.8 ± 3 years) participated in this study. Participants were divided into two groups: a Pilates Group (PG) and a Control Group (CG). The women in the PG performed 30-min sessions of Pilates (on the ground and using appliances) twice a week over six months. To evaluate the QOL, the SF-36 survey was used. The PG achieved significant improvements in 7 out of 8 domains in the survey: functional capacity (p = 0.00), physical aspects (p = 0.03), pain (p = 0.00), general health condition (p = 0.04), vitality (p = 0.02), social aspects (p = 0.03) and mental health (p = 0.05). Our results showed that implementation of a Pilates program can improve QOL of sedentary elderly women.