Functionality profiles related to mortality in elders assisted in a Geriatric Outpatient Service

• Main Authors: Ana Flávia Marostegan de Paula, Gláucia Regina Falsarella, Maria José D’Elboux, Maria Elena Guariento
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de São Carlos 2015-03-01
• Series: Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional
• Subjects: Elderly; Functionality; Memory; Death; Outpatient Clinic
• Online Access: http://www.cadernosdeterapiaocupacional.ufscar.br/index.php/cadernos/article/view/852

This study intended to evaluate the functional profile of the elderly in the Geriatric Outpatient Clinic of the Hospital of the State University of Campinas, correlating it with the occurrence of death. We evaluated 120 elderly outpatients (≥60 years), considering sociodemographic data, cognition by the Mini-Mental State Examination, Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), self-assessment of memory, depressive symptoms, number of medical consultations, and probability of death within one year. Cluster analysis, chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, and Mann-Whitney test were used as statistical analysis to compare the variables between the groups (p < 0.05). The mean age was 76.81 (±7.56) years; 66.7% were women; 63.33% were independent for ADL and 68.33% were dependent for IADL; 31.67% presented depressive symptoms; 30% presented cognitive impairment; 56.67% reported difficulty of remembering recent events; 83.33% had no difficulty emembering ancient events; 6.67% died within one year. It was possible to observe a profile consisting predominantly of younger elders, more educated, with more difficulty of remembering recent and ancient events, worse self-rated memory, and who died in greater proportion. The second profile consisted predominantly of older subjects, with higher percentage of illiteracy, less memory complaint, and no evolution to death. The study registered the existence of a group of elderly people who survive to older age with better cognitive performance. This finding is probably related to the greater resilience of these individuals.