Impacto de uma intervenção comunicativa na capacidade funcional de idosos hospitalizados / Impact of a communication intervention on the functional capacity of hospitalized elderly people.

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

INTRODUCTION: Population aging is a problem for the health sector. Due to its characteristics, hospitalization processes are more frequent, consequently favoring the presence of temporary or permanent disabilities in the elderly, a fact that is not prioritized in hospitalized patients and that demands solution strategies with a view to a better quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To study the impact a communication intervention based on Paulo Freires conception exerts on elderly peoples functional capacity through basic activities of daily living (ADL). METHODOLOGY: Quasi-experimental study of 184 patients, divided in a control (n=92) and experimental group (n=92), at the HGDIMP hospital in San Luis de Potosí, Mexico. After approval from the ethics committee was obtained, the Barthel index was applied to the BADL through an interview: two weeks before the hospitalization, at the time of hospitalization, after 48 hours of hospitalization, upon discharge and two weeks after discharge from hospital. The "Barthel index" was submitted to cultural adaptation and to a pilot test involving 96 elderly. Pfiffers questionnaire was applied (SPMSG), in its version validated for Spanish, in order to identify the cognitive state, while a questionnaire was used to collect general data and health antecedents. The communication intervention started 48 hours after hospitalization and finished two weeks after discharge from hospital. Descriptive statistics and multivariate profile analyses were applied, as well as students t and Fishers exact test, using SPSS software version 13.0. RESULTS: The participantsmean age was 70 ± 7.7 years, 60.0% were married, 41.9% had finished basic education and 40.2% were illiterate. The main causes of hospitalization were cardiovascular diseases (40.2%). The most frequent comorbidities were arterial hypertension (49.5%) and Diabetes Mellitus (33.2%). Before hospitalization, 37.0% used to take one and 25.5% two medications. The most frequently used drugs were antihypertensive (39.1%) and hypoglicemic agents (30.4%). The perceived health level was 50.5% for "regular" and 38.6% for "good". Before two weeks of hospitalization, the most affected BADL were climbing and moving down stairs (18.5%), bathing (17.4%) and all BADL in both groups displayed p>0.050, without significant differences. Upon hospital admission, increased dependence was observed on all BADL, mainly bathing, dressing and walking; however, when analyzing the BADL between the control and experimental groups, p=0.015 was found for walking, and p=0.030 for moving from the bed to the chair. A significant difference was found between the groups. After 48 of hospitalization, recovery of BADL was found in the control group (mean 50.1) and in the experimental group 40.2 p= 0.003; thus, statistical significance was found. After finishing the intervention, the mean of the experimental group increased to 90.0 and that of the control group to 67.0 p=0.001, observing significant differences. When comparing the mean profiles, p<0.001 was found. Therefore, it was concluded that no parallelism occurred. The mean score of BADL was higher in the experimental than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: this study showed the efficacy of a communication intervention for the improvement of functional capacity in hospitalized elderly patients, and also identified risk factors that can be controlled. The proposal contributes to the elderly peoples recovery and achievement of a better independence level through their active participation.

ASSUNTO(S)

communication intervention aged functional capacity hospitalization. basic activity of daily life atividade básica da vida diária capacidade funcional intervenção comunicativa idoso hospitalização

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

Documentos Relacionados