Cuidadores informais de idosos em pós-operatório de cirurgia de fêmur proximal: prevenção de novas quedas

• Autor(a) principal: Avila, Marla Andréia Garcia De [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Pereira, Gilberto José Cação [UNESP], Bocchi, Sílvia Cristina Mangini [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-81232015000601901&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=en; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/127299
• topic: Elderly; Accidental falls; Caregivers; Hip fractures; Idoso; Acidente por quedas; Cuidadores; Fraturas de fêmur

The objectives of this study were to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics of informal caregivers of elderly persons who had undergone surgery for hip fractures caused by a fall, explore the level of caregiver's knowledge regarding fall prevention, and assess the relationship between this knowledge and the use of preventative measures in practice. This investigation consists of a cross-sectional study using nonprobability sampling methods conducted over a period of 12 months and involving 89 caregivers. The majority of caregivers were female (76.4%) and sons or daughters of the patients (64%). Environmental modification was the predominant preventative measure used by caregivers (88.2%). 58.1% of caregivers believed it was possible to prevent falls in the elderly and there was a significant association (p = 0,002) between believing it was possible to prevent falls and carrying out modifications in the home and/or to the daily routine of the older person. Informal caregivers with wide or partial knowledge of fall prevention put preventative measures into practice. These findings demonstrate that the number of falls among older persons could be significantly reduced if health care programmes widened their actions to include the guiding principles of the WHO falls prevention model.