The role of sports physiotherapy in elderly athletes: a literature review

Population aging is a fact that requires attention from all sectors of society. Once the practice of physical activity is emphasized, the figure of the athlete in old age and the importance of sports physiotherapy emerges in this context. The guiding question arises: How can sports physiotherapy help athletes in old age? The general objective of this article is to review the literature on the performance of sports physiotherapy in elderly athletes. The methodology chosen was the systematic review of the literature, in which the textual texture was carried out by consulting databases and other texts related to the topic in question, between the months of August 2018 and March 2022 a review based on PEDro, MedLine, Lilacs, Scielo databases. The keywords “idoso”, “atletas”, “fisioterapia” and their correspondents in English were used. The results allowed the inclusion of 09 papers written between 2018 and 2021. It was concluded that the importance of sports physiotherapy in senior athletes is related to health promotion and the prevention of sports injuries and rehabilitation, knowing that the physiotherapist acts both in the treatment of athletes and in the development of specific programs to improve physical performance, injury prevention and rehabilitation.