Prevalence of indicative symptoms of cognitive alterations in hospitalized elderly and associated factors

Abstract

Aging causes both physical, psychological and social changes that, when added to situations which do not favor healthy aging, can lead to complications such as cognitive impairment. The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of symptoms indicative of cognitive alterations in hospitalized elderly and associated demographic factors. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative study carried out with 673 elderly people hospitalized in the 2020-2021 period. A demographic questionnaire and questions that investigated the cognitive condition were applied. Absolute and relative frequency and chi-square test were performed, considering the variable “Set of symptoms indicative of cognitive alteration” as dependent. It was found that 50.2% of the elderly have forgetfulness observed by family and friends; 29.7% reported that this forgetfulness has worsened in recent months and 30.0% have difficulty maintaining attention and a connected conversation. In relation to the elderly who presented a set of symptoms indicative of cognitive alteration, a prevalence of 17.5% was found. It was found that elderly people aged among 70 and 79 years and 80 years or more had a risk ratio of 1.11 and 1.31, respectively, of having symptoms indicative of cognitive impairment compared to elderly people aged among 60 and 69 years. (p<0.001) and widowers had a risk ratio of 1.19 for having symptoms indicative of cognitive impairment, to the detriment of married or in a stable relationship (p<0.001). It is concluded that the prevalence of a set of symptoms indicative of cognitive impairment in hospitalized elderly was high and associated to the oldest and widowed.