Prevalência e fatores sociodemográficos associados à fragilidade em mulheres idosas

Abstract

ReSUmO Estudo transversal, que objetivou de estimar a prevalência de fragilidade em mulheres idosas, residentes no município de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil; e identificar possíveis associações entre a fragilidade e as variáveis sociodemográficas. A amostra foi composta por 166 idosas, entrevistadas nos domicílios, entre abril e junho de 2011. Para a coleta dos dados, utilizou-se instrumento estruturado com questões relativas às variáveis sociodemográficas e à Edmonton Frail Scale. A análise descritiva dos dados, realizada pelo programa SPSS 15.0, mostrou que a maioria das idosas (60,8%) evidenciava algum grau de fragilidade. Entre elas, 21,7% eram aparentemente vulneráveis, 23,5%, com fragilidade leve, 7,8%, moderada, e 7,8%, e grave. Verificou-se associação do fenômeno com idade, escolaridade e renda, condições sobre as quais os enfermeiros devem atuar com vistas à prevenção do evento. descritores: Mulher; Idoso Fragilizado; Envelhecimento; Enfermagem.aBStRaCt Cross-sectional study that aimed to estimating the prevalence of frailty in older women living in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil; and to identify possible associations between frailty and socio-demographic variables. The sample included 166 elderly women were interviewed in their home between April and June 2011. For data was collected using a structure instrument to questions on socio-demographic variables and the Edmonton Frail Scale. The descriptive data analysis, performed by SPSS 15.0, showed that most elderly women 60.8% showed some degree of fragility. Among them, 21.7% were apparently vulnerable, 23.5% mild frailty, 7.8% moderate and 7.8% severe frailty. It was found an association of the phenomena with age, education and income, conditions under which nurses must act in order to prevent the event. Key words: Women; Frail Elderly; Aging; Nursing. ReSUmeNEstudio transversal que objetivó estimar la prevalencia de fragilidad en mujeres adultas mayores residentes en el municipio de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil; y identificar posibles asociaciones entre fragilidad y variables socio-demográficas. La muestra comprendió 166 mujeres ancianas, entrevistadas en los domicilios entre abril a junio de 2011. Para la colecta de datos se utilizo un instrumento estructurado con preguntas relativas a las variables socio-demográficas y la Edmonton Frail Scale. El análisis descriptiva de los datos, realizado por el programa SPSS 15.0, mostro que la mayoría de las adultas mayores (60.8%) evidenciaban algún grado de fragilidad. Entre ellas, 21.7% eran aparentemente vulnerables, 23.5% evidenciaban fragilidad leve, 7.8% fragilidad moderada y 7.8% fragilidad grave. Se verifico asociación del fenómeno con la edad, escolaridad e ingresos mensuales, condiciones sobre las cuales los enfermeros deben actuar con vistas a la prevención del evento.

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

“…Regarding socioeconomic variables, there was an association between education, marital status and frailty, corroborating, firstly, four studies in which the elderly with low educational level have a greater chance of being frail [12,13,15,16]. On the other hand, individuals with lower levels of education and with low income tend to adopt, more often, a lifestyle that is harmful to health, mainly due to lack of access to and clarification of information [15].…”

“…Among the surveyed elderly, the female gender prevailed and the age group ranged from 60 to 69 years. There was a similar result in studies that aimed to investigate the frailty [1,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The large number of women in the surveys can be justified because they are more attentive to health, seek health services frequently, expose themselves to different risks and have better quality of life [10,11,13].…”

“…The large number of women in the surveys can be justified because they are more attentive to health, seek health services frequently, expose themselves to different risks and have better quality of life [10,11,13]. There was no significant differences between the presence of frailty and gender and age, but studies commonly show the relationship of frailty in women and in the eldest elderlies [3,4,8,10,13,15,16]. Thus, frailty syndrome may increase with aging, 10% to 25% above 60 years old, and 46% above 80 years old [10].…”

“…On the other hand, individuals with lower levels of education and with low income tend to adopt, more often, a lifestyle that is harmful to health, mainly due to lack of access to and clarification of information [15].…”

Elderly who take care of elderly: a study on the Frailty Syndrome

“…Living conditions marked by sexual differences, such as performance of house chores, lack of economic independence and restricted social life are factors that can explain the highest frailty prevalence among women (16) .…”