FUNCTIONAL EVALUATION OF INSTITUTIONALIZED AND NON-INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THE CITY OF JUIZ DE FORA/MG

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the functionality of institutionalized and non-institutionalized elderly in the city of Juiz de Fora/MG. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, which had a non-probabilistic sample of 40 individuals, divided into 20 institutionalized and 20 non-institutionalized elderly, each of the groups consisting of 10 men and 10 women. The individuals were 60 years old or older, and the institutionalized elderly live in the Philanthropic Shelter of Elderly of the Spiritist Foundation João de Freitas, while the non-institutionalized were in attendance at the ambulatory of clinical specialities of the Therezinha de Jesus Hospital and Maternity, both located at the city of Juiz de Fora/MG. The exploratory research was performed using the Barthel Index, that belongs to the field of evaluation of activities of daily living and measures the functional independency in personal care, mobility, locomotion and eliminations. The data collection was performed between August and December of 2017. As a result, the presence of intense loss of functional capacity in institutionalized elderly was noticed, when compared to non-institutionalized elderly. It is concluded that, although the increase of age being related naturally with loss of functional capacity, it’s important to value the presence of associated multimorbidities, since the understanding about the functional evaluation of the elderly is of great importance for the professionals that act in the areas of geriatrics and gerontology.

 Keywords: Elderly. Functional Evaluation. Geriatrics. Barthel Index.