BACKGROUND: Age-related declines across physical, social, environmental, and psychological domains are associated with a deterioration in quality of life. In this context, physical exercise has been proposed as a strategy to attenuate such declines. AIM: This study aimed to longitudinally assess the trajectory of quality of life among community-dwelling older adults engaged in aquatic-based exercise. METHODS: A longitudinal, pragmatic, quasi-experimental study was conducted with older adults enrolled at the Center for Reference in Aging and Movement (CREM). Participants engaged in water aerobics and deep-water running. The intervention consisted of two weekly 45-minute supervised sessions of aerobic and/or combined training. Exercise intensity was monitored using the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale (6-20). Quality of life was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF at the beginning and end of each of four annual program cycles. RESULTS: Mean participant age was approximately 71 years. The findings demonstrated a progressive improvement in overall quality of life over the four-year period (p<0.001), with mean scores increasing from 71±11 at baseline to 74±11 (*4%, p<0.001) by the third year. Domain-specific analyses indicated that this improvement was primarily driven by gains in the psychological domain (p<0.001), which increased by 11% (p<0.001) from baseline (67±12) to the second year (75±11), remaining stable thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in long-term aquatic exercise was associated with sustained improvements in perceived quality of life. These benefits were primarily related to improvements in the psychological domain, while the remaining domains remained stable throughout follow-up.
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