Efectividad de la gimnasia cerebral sobre la capacidad motora en adultos mayores que asisten al Centro de Salud El Cisne 2.

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the effect of brain gym exercises on motor capacity in older adults from El Cisne 2 Health Center through a quantitative approach, a longitudinal quasi-experimental design, and pre-intervention and post-intervention assessments in 50 participants with a mean age of 75.46 ± 6.70 years; the assessment included the Mini-Mental State Examination, WOMAC, Tinetti Scale, Timed Up and Go, and Chair Stand Test, instruments used to examine cognitive function, functional status, balance, gait, functional mobility, and lower-limb strength; the intervention consisted of a structured brain gym program with activities focused on coordination, laterality, attention, memory, balance, postural control, and functional strength; the descriptive evaluation identified favorable variations between the pre-intervention and post-intervention measurements, with changes in the scores of the instruments and shifts toward favorable functional categories in the Tinetti and Timed Up and Go tests; inferential analysis through the Wilcoxon test showed significant variations in MMSE (W = 0.00; p < 0.001), WOMAC (W = 1275; p < 0.001), Tinetti (W = 0.00; p = 0.006), Timed Up and Go (W = 1275; p < 0.001), and Chair Stand (W = 0.00; p = 0.001); the results showed favorable changes in cognitive function, balance, gait, functional mobility, and lower-limb strength after the intervention; these findings support the relevance of structured cognitive-motor activities within geriatric physiotherapy programs focused on functional performance; which led to the conclusion that the brain gym program was associated with statistically significant improvements in the capacities assessed among the participating older adults.