Capacidade funcional e desempenho físico de idosos comunitários: estudo longitudinal das mudanças e dos fatores determinantes

Abstract

Knowledge and comprehension of the changes that can take place in the functional capacity (FC) and in the physical performance of elders are indispensable for the direction of actions to promote, prevent and recover their functional state. This study aimed to verify the occurrence of changes in the FC and physical performance of community elders and its determining factors, in a two-year period. This study is a quantitative, observational and cross-sectional domiciliary inquiry, which took place from 2014 to 2016, with the participation of 380 elders from the city of Uberaba-MG. The Mini-Mental State Examination was used for cognitive analysis, as well as a questionnaire to characterize the participants according to sociodemographic, economic, clinical and life habit factors. The FC was evaluated through Katz scale for activities of daily living (ADL) and the Lawton and Brody instrumental activities of daily living scale (IADL). Physical performance was verified through the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). A descriptive, bivariate (t-test for dependent and independent samples, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient and linear multiple regression analysis were conducted, with a α<0.05 significance level. 65.8% of the 380 elders participating were women, and 34. , men. Most of them ere - ears old, lived ith a s ouse or artner, had - ears of formal education, ere retired, orked, lived in their o n hoses, lived ith someone else, had an income of minimum age in and of 3 in 2016, 5 or more morbidities, used 1|-5 medications, had no history of hospitalization in the previous 12 months, and were physically active. In this two-year period, the FC (IADL) and the physical performance underwent changes, even as traveling, domestic work, medication use and management of money, specific activities from the Lawton and Brody scale and in the SPPB test of getting up from a chair. The investigation indicated that the determining factors for both outcomes were: age group, professional activity, physical activity practice and medication use. Educational level was a specific factor only for IADL, and gender, for physical performance. The change in both FC and physical performance highlights the importance of understanding the process and its repercussions. The findings ofthis study are expected to offer bases for redirecting public health policies for the elders, as to prevent incapacitating conditions that may rise and evolve through time leading to biopsychosocial damages, spending health system resources and overloading families and the community.