PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN A PERSON WITH DEMENTIA: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Abstract

Background: Dementia is characterized by a set of disorders that involving a progressive loss of cognitive functions as well as affecting the skill necessary for the normal development of activities of daily living. Objective: Identify the benefits of physical exercise at the cognitive, sensory and motor level in the person with dementia. Method: Systematic Review of literature, started with the question: "What are the benefits of physical exercise in people with dementia?". The research was carried out using the electronic database platforms: EBSCOHost and BVS, having been identified, selected, evaluated in a methodological quality and included articles that take into account the PRISMA recommendations. Results: There were included seven studies meeting the inclusion criteria, that is, primary experimental studies, addressing the practice of physical exercise in people with dementia and Alzheimer Disease, published in the last 5 years (2014-2018), in Portuguese, English and Spanish, were included, with full text of free access. Conclusions: This Systematic Review reveals evidence of the beneficial effects of physical exercise on cognition and motor ability in people with dementia.

Keywords

• physical activity
• physical exercise
• dementia
• alzheimer disease
• rehabilitation nursing