Characterization of living conditions among elderly people from long-term care institutions of a medium-sized municipality in northeastern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Morais, Vanessa Macêdo Cruz Cordeiro de
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Pinto, Antonio Germane Alves, Cândido, Estelita Lima, Costa, Milena Silva, Pinheiro, Adriana de Alencar Gomes, Maia, Evanira Rodrigues, Cordeiro, Valeska Macêdo Cruz
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: PAJAR - Pan American Journal of Aging Research
• Texto Completo: https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/ojs/index.php/pajar/article/view/42912
• topic: aging; health profile; homes for the aged; envejecimiento; perfil de salud; hogares para ancianos; envelhecimento; perfil de saúde; instituição de longa permanência para idosos

Objective: describe the sociodemographic, clinical and institutionalization profile of elderly people living in Long-Term Care Institutions. Methods: cross-sectional, documentary study, developed in five Long Stay Institutions for the Elderly in a municipality in the State of Ceará, Brazil. From July to September 2019, a form was used to identify these profiles in the medical records. Data were subjected to descriptive analysis. Results: of the total of 157 institutionalized elderly people, most were women (57.9%), aged between 71 and 80 years (42.1%), single (52.2%), illiterate (49%), income of a minimum wage (90.4%), with 1 to 4 children (34.4%). The clinical conditions found were severe uncorrected visual and/or hearing impairment (14.7%), rheumatic or neurological diseases that made it difficult to move the hands (16.6%), Diabetes Mellitus (18.5%), Alzheimer’s (14%) and Parkinson’s (0.6%). The continuous use of medication was identified in 87.9% of the elderly and 84.7% of them had no records of hospitalizations in the last 12 months. The main reason for institutionalization was the difficulty of family support (56%), the length of stay in the institution was between one and three years (42.1%) and 63.7% of the elderly received visits from family and friends. Conclusion: the profiles expressed in the research subsidize health care and social support needs for institutionalized elderly.