Sarcopenia and chronic pain in institutionalized elderly women

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sarcopenia and chronic pain are geriatric syndromes that negatively impact the lives of the affected elderly, their families and the routine of health services, as is the case of long-term care institutions for the elderly. The objective of this study was to verify the relationship between sarcopenia and chronic pain in institutionalized elderly women. METHODS: A cross-sectional, population-based study was carried out in 24 long-term care institutions for the elderly, in Passo Fundo/RS (December 2016-June 2017). The population was composed of 161 residents in these places, submitted to an instrument structured in 23 blocks. In this study, blocks A (type of institution), B (sociodemographic variables), F (sarcopenia) and G (chronic pain) were used. Blocks A, B and G were evaluated using the elderly self-report and the block F through the SARC-F Questionnaire. The statistical analysis used the descriptive statistics and the chi-square test with Pearson's relation (p≤0.05). RESULTS: The sample consisted of 79 elderly women (81.38±8.79 years). The majority between 80 to 89 years, living in private institutions, white, widowed and with 1 to 8 years of education. It was observed that 62% had sarcopenia and 41.8% chronic pain, and these variables were associated (p=0.033). There was no association between sarcopenia or chronic pain with age (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: There was an association between sarcopenia and chronic pain in institutionalized elderly women. Based on

Prevalence of chronic pain and analysis of handgrip strength in institutionalized elderly

“…Still, there was no relationship between the HGS and chronic pain, but between the HGS and the factors gender and age. In this study, it was found that the profile of the institutionalized elderly consisted predominantly of private residents of LTCF, women, long-lived, widows and with education from 1 to 8 years 12 and that are in agreement with other studies 11,17,18 . With the considerable increase in the number of elderly people in recent times, musculoskeletal disorders, especially chronic pain, have been one of the main complaints among this population 19 , and in up to 80% of cases, these symptoms persist for at least two years until the search for treatment 20 .…”

“…As this was a large research, a large team was needed to perform data collection, and several interviewers were required to apply the sociodemographic questionnaire and the manual dynamometry test. To minimize possible biases, they were previously trained and oriented, as explained in the "methods" section in another published study 12 .…”

“…The study was conducted in Passo Fundo/RS, one of the most populated cities in the state, characterized as an important regional health and education hub. In addition, the municipality has 24 LTCF that house about 450 elderly people 12 . The sample calculation was performed using the formula "n=Z 2 .p.…”

“…The data collection period was between December 2016, and July 2018. The data collection procedure and the elaboration of the data collection instrument has already been described 12 . Sociodemographic and health data were included in a questionnaire prepared by the authors themselves, which recorded the type of LTCF, gender, age, marital status, education, and the presence of chronic pain.…”

Sarcopenia associada ao envelhecimento: fatores que interferem na qualidade de vida do idoso / Sarcopenia associated with aging: factors that interfere with the quality of life of the elderly

“…O envelhecimento vem sendo um processo cada vez mais comum na sociedade e até em países subdesenvolvidos já é possível observar uma grande quantidade de indivíduos de terceira idade, sendo que junto a eles aparecem também os problemas relacionados a velhice, que por sua vez podem intervir diretamente na qualidade de vida dos mesmos, no núcleo familiar que se encontram e na saúde pública. 12 A sarcopenia é um dos principais fatores que interfere na qualidade de vida do idoso, por se tratar de um processo de desgaste muscular, no qual o indivíduo perde força, massa e musculatura esquelética, dificultando assim sua mobilidade e com isso acarretando diversos outros problemas. 12 Com a falta de mobilidade e ações físicas cada vez mais restrita, parte dos idosos acabam sendo institucionalizados, já que diante a sociedade e a família podem perder seu valor e até mesmo a sua função.…”