Effects of kinesiotherapy on hand grip strength and quality of life of a long-lived elder with systemic sclerosis: case report

Abstract

The systemic sclerosis (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the connective tissue, and causes loss of mobility, functionality, range of motion, muscle strength decreased and cardiopulmonary decline, and quality of life loss. This study aimed to verify the effects of a program physiotherapy intervention in handgrip strength and quality of life of a long-lived elderly with SS. This is a longitudinal and interventional case study. The patient was attended at the Department of Rheumatology and Physiotherapy of the Universidade de Passo Fundo and the intervention protocol was based on kinesiotherapy. For the grip strength’s evaluation was used the Kratos® dynamometer and was used the SF-36 to assess quality of life. The results showed an improvement in bilateral hand grip strength when compared with pre and post intervention results, especially in the left limb. Regarding to quality of life, an overall improvement was observed in most part of the SF-36 domains. The kinesiotherapy proved to be an effective method in the improvement of the hand grip strength and quality of life of a long-lived elderly with SS.