Barreiras para a prática de atividade física em idosos: revisão de escopo de estudos brasileiros

In order to identify barriers to physical activity (PA) in the elderly, we conducted a scoping review, with searches in seven electronic databases and reference lists, covering articles available until December 2020. We searched for original studies, developed in Brazil, that investigated barriers to PA in samples of ≥ 60 years people. Of the 911 initial results, 13 composed the synthesis, involving elderly participants of socialization groups, institutionalized and participants of PA projects, with a predominance of women. Thirty-one barriers were identified, 18 of which were classified as intrapersonal (58.1%). “Disease, pain or injury” was the most frequently mentioned barrier among the studies (n = 9), being also associated with physical inactivity in one article. Also noteworthy were “lack of safety” (n = 6), “fear of falling/injury” (n = 3), and “feeling active enough” (n = 3). Intrapersonal barriers are the most perceived by Brazilian elderly, with “pain, illness and/or injury” being the most frequently mentioned barrier, followed by “lack of safety”, “fear of falling/injury”, and “feeling active enough”. Even though this evidence is mostly supported by data from the Southern region of the country, the recognition of these barriers can be incorporated into the different scenarios of PA supply for the elderly. In addition, future studies are important, both for the presentation of the main barriers to PA in different regions of the country, and for the analysis of their possible associations with physical inactivity.