Avaliação da fragilidade de idosos institucionalizados

Abstract

Objective: To assess the presence of frailty and its relationship to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in institutionalized elderly. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 54 elderly residents in long-stay institutions in the Northeast of Brazil. The data collection instruments were the Edmonton Frail Scale, socioeconomic assessmentand health profiles. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test, with significance level of 0.05. Results: The mean age was 72.4 (± 8.5) years, 61.1% were male and 74.1% had some level of frailty. There were positive correlations between frailty, gender, age, comorbidities, body mass index and the need and amount of medicines. Conclusion: Frailty in institutionalized elderly is influenced by sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. ResumoObjetivo: Avaliar a presença de fragilidade e sua relação com as características sociodemográficas e clínicas em idosos institucionalizados. Métodos: Estudo transversal com 54 idosos residentes em instituição de longa permanência da região Nordeste do Brasil. Os instrumentos de coleta utilizados foram a Escala de Fragilidade de Edmonton e outro de perfil socioeconômico e de saúde. Os dados foram analisados através da estatística descritiva e do teste do Qui-quadrado, com nível de significância 0,05. Resultados: A média de idade foi de 72,4 (±8,5) anos, 61,1% eram do sexo masculino e 74,1% apresentaram algum nível de fragilidade. Houve correlações positivas entre fragilidade, sexo, idade, presença de comorbidades, índice de massa corporal e necessidade e quantidade de medicamentos. Conclusão: A fragilidade em idosos institucionalizados sofre influência das características sociodemográficas e clínicas.

Frailty in the elderly: prevalence and associated factors

“…These instruments have demonstrated acceptable reliability as well as a concurrent, predictive and good validity (17) . The results of this study confirm higher frequency of frailty as age increases, being more prevalent among the advanced age elderly; similar data have been found in other studies (6,13) . During the aging process, there is a gradual decrease of physiological reserve and consequent decline accumulated in several physiological systems, resulting in the condition of frailty 7) .…”

“…However, in studies using EFS, prevalence of fragility in the elderly who lived in the community was 39.1% in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo (11) and 41.3% in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais (6) , while in the elderly assisted by the Family Health Strategy in Embu, São Paulo, it was 30.1% (12) . Prevalence of frailty was 74.1% in the elderly of an institution of long permanence in Fortaleza, Ceará (13) ,while it was 95.2% in the elderly hospitalized in the Medical Clinic of the Emergency Department of a University Hospital of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo (14) . We observed that different conditions may influence the prevalence of frailty in the elderly.…”

Frailty Assessment and its Association with Sociodemographic and Health Characteristics in Community Elderly

“…This result may be due to the place of study, a FHU, since independent people with functional capacity preserved seek most frequently FHUs. Others also had similar percentages [2,4,7,8,10,12,13], diverging from other researches that worked with the same object, but in the hospital context [3,6,11], as well as at a Long-Term Permanence Institution for the elderly (LTPI) [16,18], where there was a greater predominance of frailty in the participants, and where there are elderly individuals with comorbidities, cognitive deficits and functional decline [11].…”

“…Although frailty does not always relate to the consequences of chronic diseases in the elderly, or vice versa, they may associate with each other, indicating a high risk for events that are harmful to health [18]. Through the results, the frailty associated with heart disease, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, respiratory diseases, urinary tract infection and depression.…”

“…In addition, the cumulative adverse effects of chronic diseases, along with the aging process, increases the risk of adverse health events, thus making the elderly more prone to becoming frail due to the clinical outcomes they may possibly present [5,18].…”