[Living and health conditions of elderly people over 80]

Factors that influence the global quality of life of long-lived older adults (>80 years)

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess global quality of life and the factors associated with it in long-lived older adults registered with family health centers. Global quality of life was measured using the two general questions on the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional, quantitative study based on secondary data from a sample of 100 older adults. RESULTS: The results of analyses revealed a mean age of 84.20 years, 77% of the sample were female, 46% had spent between 1 and 4 years in education, 63% were widowed, 76% had an income equivalent to one to two times the minimum wage, 77% had systemic arterial hypertension, 34% had diabetes mellitus, 27% had cardiovascular disease, 74% had social support, and 63% exhibited depressive symptomology. The frequency of satisfactory global quality of life in the sample studied was 35%. CONCLUSIONS: In relation to global quality of life, assessed in terms of interviewees’ satisfaction with their lives and health in conjunction, the majority of the study population reported not being satisfied. After completion of all statistical analyses, factors associated with dissatisfaction were social support, depression, and osteoarthritis.

Determinantes da relação entre percepção do funcionamento do sistema urinário atrapalhar a vida e a qualidade de vida de longevos

Objetivo: este estudo buscou avaliar a relação entre a percepção do funcionamento do sistema urinário atrapalhar a vida de modo geral com a análise do questionário Kings Health Questionnaire (KHQ) em longevos.Métodos: estudo transversal e analítico. Foram investigadas características sociodemográficas e clínicas, bem como, o impacto da incontinência urinária (IU) na Qualidade de vida (QV) pelo instrumento KHQ. Frequências, médias e desvio-padrão, testes de qui-quadrado, t de student e regressões logísticas foram calculadas, aceitando como significativos valores de p<0,05.Resultados: participaram 82 longevos, 68% mulheres, idade média de 92,3±2,7 anos, 71% incontinentes e 43% referindo que a funcionalidade pélvica atrapalhava a vida. Indivíduos incontinentes relataram mais frequentemente a queixa investigada. Os domínios, impacto da IU, emoções, limitação físico-social, limitação no desempenho de tarefas do KHQ e seu escore total foram relacionados com a queixa. Indivíduos que relataram limitação de tarefas fora de casa, em viagens, vontade forte de urinar e difícil de controlar, sentimento de depressão e ansiedade ou nervosismo tinham aumento significativo na chance de relatar que a funcionalidade pélvica atrapalhava a vida.Conclusão: o KHQ foi relacionado com a chance de relato de que o funcionamento do sistema urinário atrapalhava a vida. Mesmo assim, boa parte dos incontinentes não relatava que a condição atrapalhava a vida. Por isso, os resultados demonstram que mesmo na ausência de afirmação positiva de ausência de IU, o funcionamento do sistema urinário pode comprometer a QV. Os achados sugerem que, ou os participantes realmente tinham IU e não a percebiam como tal, ou que é necessário investigar outras questões como frequência miccional, por exemplo. O uso do KHQ permitiu identificar que mesmo na ausência de relato de IU o funcionamento do sistema urinário pode interferir na QV de longevos.

Elderly health care in the Family Health Strategy and the prevalence of common mental disorders

The aims of the present study were to characterize the reasons for medical appointments and treatment procedures of elderly people in the Estratégia Saúde da Família ("Family Health Strategy") (ESF), with emphasis on mental health, as well as to identify the prevalence of common mental disorders, and compare this with the approaches described in medical records. A descriptive and cross-sectional study of 219 elderly persons was performed by reviewing medical records and applying a Self-Response Questionnaire (SRQ-20). For this population the average number of appointments per year was three, 42.3% of appointments were to obtain a medical prescription, and 70.9% of medical procedures involved the provision of medical prescriptions. There were eight referrals to specialized mental health services. The most prescribed psychiatric drugs were anxiolytics (55%), and antidepressants (29.7%). A total of 19.6% of the elderly persons had scores above seven in the SRQ-20. It was observed that a large proportion of mental disorders were not detected, and there was a failure in the procedures adopted. More investment in patient flow and the definition of assistance criteria for this population is required.