Avaliação do risco de quedas em idosos na comunidade / Evaluation of the fall risk in elderly in the community.

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

The elderly aging context needs to be taken into account because of the countrys socioeconomic, political and demographical factors. According to estimates, the Brazilian elderly population will be the sixth largest worldwide by 2050. Therefore, this study addresses a very common accident in this population. Falls cause several consequences to the elderly, thus strategies should be in place to identify those at risk and to avoid fall-related injuries. This is an epidemiological and cross-sectional study that aimed to estimate the proportion of older people who suffered falls in the 12 months previous to the interview, identify consequences of falls and estimate the proportion of hospitalized people (who had undergone surgery, fractures, among others) due to the fall, carry out the content validation, determine the accuracy of the Fall Risk Score indicators and estimate the proportion of older people, resident in Ribeirão Preto, 2008, who have fell to those who have not in relation to demographic, social and cognitive factors in addition to the instrument scores. The subsample was composed of 515 older people. The data were collected through interviews held at their homes from April 03, 2008 to July 30, 2008, using identification, social profile, health problems, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Fall Risk Score. The participants average age was 75.4 years, 44.5% were married and 81.6% white. The majority of them (88.5%) had income, lived in their own house (72.6%) and did not live by themselves (83.9%). There was an average of 5.5 morbidities by person, while the most common (co)morbidity was high blood pressure in 61.3%. There was a higher number of older people (55.5%) with low education (1 to 4 years), and the cognitive performance associated to the level of education showed that 85.5% presented high cognitive performance. Regarding those who had suffered falls, 124 (24.1%), the majority fell from their own height (81.5%), in the patio or backyard (23.7%), while the majority of falls was due to extrinsic factors (59.2%). Results show that 8.1% of them were hospitalized due to the falls and 4.8% needed surgery. In terms of consequences, 29.8% suffered bruises and 12.9% close fractures, while 40.3% reported fear of falling again with worse consequences. The cut score in the Fall Risk Score instrument is three, with 74.2% of sensitivity, 58.8% of specificity and 62.5% of accuracy. As this population gets older (p <0,001), women are at a higher risk of falling (p <0.001). Statistical significance was not found between fall and cognitive decline. In relation to morbidities, only high blood pressure presented statistical significance (p = 0.018). Females presented higher (50.4%) prevalence of falls when compared to males. People 90 years or older presented higher prevalence, 202%, in relation to those between 65 and 69 years. Although, only the age range between 65 and 84 years presented statistical significance in the logistic regression (p = 0.036) and risk diagnosis (p <0.001) in relation to falls. Therefore, the health team and the family should constantly evaluate the fall risk of the elderly to promote prevention strategies, diminish falls, and consequently diminish sequels these people experience, providing them better life conditions.

ASSUNTO(S)

falls comunidade gerontology risk fall risco de quedas aged idosos community quedas gerontologia

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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