Physical detraining is the partial or total interruption of a physical exercise program, and it results in partial or total loss of acquired benefits, generating physiological adaptations in older people. In the context of the social restrictions imposed by the covid-19 pandemic, physical detraining may have resulted in a decline in the functional mobility and mental health of this population.

To verify the correlation between functional mobility and mental health of active older people after 18 months of physical detraining due to the covid-19 pandemic.

This is a longitudinal study. The participants of the study were older people considered active for practicing a regular multicomponent physical exercise program (MPE) and in a group for at least one year, before being interrupted due to the covid-19 pandemic. The program had a weekly frequency of three times a week, with sessions of 50 minutes each. The physical assessments were carried out in three moments, being T1: before the pandemic (March 2020), T2: after 18 months of the beginning of the pandemic (August 2021) and T3: after 24 months of the pandemic and return to face-to-face activities (February 2022). The functional mobility assessment was done by “Timed Up and Go – TUG” test and it was carried out in the three moments, while the mental health assessment was done using two components: depressive symptoms from the “Geriatric Depression Scale - GDS” and perceived stress by the “Perceived Stress Scale - PSS”, being performed only at T2. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 20 software with a significance level of p < 0.05, after verifying the normality of the data, the Friedman test was performed to compare functional mobility and the correlation with mental health was performed using the test of Spearman with delta values ​​between the first 18 months of the pandemic (T2-T1).

forty-six older people (74 ± 6.67 age and 87% female) participated in the three moments. There was a significant worsening of functional mobility performance between T1 and T2 (8.29 [7.57-9.38] and 9.34 [8.53-10.96]), reflecting the effect of 18 months of detraining. Regarding the correlation with mental health, a positive correlation was observed with GDS (p=0,015; r=0,414) and PSS (p=0,047; r=0,377). Thus, the longer time spent performing the TUG was associated with a higher presence of depressive symptoms and perceived stress in the 18 months of the pandemic.

The pandemic had negative effects on functional mobility that lasted even after 18 months of its beginning, and worst functional mobility was correlated with worsening mental health.

With the end of the pandemic, the resumption of physical exercise programs for the older people is important, so that there is a recovery of functional mobility, but it is also necessary that these programs also pay attention to mental health issues in this population.