Evaluation of frailty, functional capacity and quality of life of the elderly in geriatric outpatient clinic of a university hospital

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the occurrence of frailty and analyze the functional capacity and quality of life in the elderly in a department of geriatrics and gerontology in Belém-PA. Method: Cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study.103 elderly people were assessed as the socio-demographic and clinical aspects, frailty, according to the phenotype of Fried, history of falls, self-perceived health, functional capacity (FC) and quality of life (QOL). The elderly were classified as frail (FR), pre-frail (PF) and non-frail (NF). The groups were compared using the binomial test, Kruskal-Wallis test and ANOVA test, and the relationship between FC and QOL through Pearson correlation. Results: The mean age was 73.39(±6.42) years; 23.0% of the elderly were FR, 57.0%were PF and 20.0% were NF. The highest criteria of phenotype were muscle weakness and physical inactivity. Was no difference in FC between FR and PF ( p<0.01) and FR and NF ( p<0.01). The FR elderly had lower QOL and the highest scores were intimacy (15.33±2.26) and death and dying (14.88±3.26). There were correlation between FC and QOL in groups PF ( p=0.0273) and NF ( p=0.0017). 62.1% of seniors pointed to health as regular and 34.0% had a history of falling. Conclusion: Muscle weakness and physical inactivity were most striking in the development of frailty, which was associated with worse QOL and FC, despite most seniors be independent. These data are important for early detection of determinants of frailty, since the criteria discussed here are reversible.

Fatores extrínsecos para risco de quedas de idosos hospitalizados

“…Consideraram-se oito (62%) enfermarias como ambientes seguros e as demais apresentavam algum tipo de risco de quedas. 10 Além disso, a partir da menopausa, as mulheres estão mais propensas a doenças cardiovasculares, apontando uma relação restrita entre a pressão arterial e os hormônios femininos, o que aumenta a predisposição à ocorrência de patologias. 11 Outro fator interessante pode ter relação com a maior longevidade das mulheres que, com o predomínio do déficit cognitivo maior, acaba por necessitar de mais cuidados à saúde do que os homens.…”

Níveis de fragilidade de idosos e sua associação com as características sociodemográficas

“…(7) In Portugal, a study demonstrates a prevalence of 34.9% of frail elderly in a sample of 339 participants. (8) In Brazil, in Belém do Pará, 23% of the elderly who participated in the study were frail, (9) against 8.7% in Minas Gerais. (10) As Rio Grande do Sul is the second Brazilian state with the largest proportion of elderly people (13.5%), (4) it is fundamental to establish criteria that permit the identification of elderly people who are in the subclinical condition of the syndrome and, therefore, eligible for preventive interventions.…”

Exercícios físicos, mobilidade funcional, equilíbrio, capacidade funcional e quedas em idosos.

“…A fraqueza muscular e a inatividade física mostraram ser mais marcantes no desenvolvimento da síndrome da fragilidade, estando associada à pior capacidade funcional e qualidade de vida do idoso 5 .…”

“…No entanto, a prática de exercício físico melhora significativamente a fragilidade e qualidade de vida no idoso, resultando melhora da cognição, da execução de atividades da vida diária, do envolvimento social, da marcha, do equilíbrio, da flexibilidade e da diminuição de tropeços e quedas 5,6,7,8,9 .…”