Autoeficácia de Idosos iniciantes em um Programa de Exercícios Físicos: comparação entre Permanecentes e Não Permanecentes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the self-efficacy (AE) for physical activity among elderly begin- ners in a physical exercise program (PEP). The PEP was offered in the community of Florianópolis - SC, during three months (three sessions per week, 60 min per session) and was conducted by physical education professionals affiliated with the Primary Care Network. The study included 51 elderly (41 women). Data collection was conducted through questionnaires and involved sociodemographic varia- bles, perceived health status and AE. All elderly who participated in the PEP to its end were considered “persevering”; those who at some point stopped were considered “not persevering”. Chi-square or Fi- sher’s exact test were used to compare the results, adopting a significance level of 5%. The main results reveal that are differences of AE for the walk between “persevering” and “not persevering” elderly on PEP (p = 0.02), being higher among “persevering”. Additionally, most of the participants evaluated perceive that the practice of AF is not prevented by state of health. The results suggest that SE contri- buted to the participants permanence in PEP and thus its evaluation in early intervention becomes an important tool in developing strategies that aid participants to increase the perception of AE