OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical and functional profile of elderly living in a long-term care institution. METHODS: 47 older adults living in a long-term care institution of Belo Horizonte/MG took part in the study. For a data collection were used a structured socio-demographic questionnaire, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS), Katz Index and Timed Up and Go (TUG). A descriptive statistics were employed by using SPSS14.0. RESULTS: The mean age of the elderly was 73.0 years (±8.99). Most of the elderly was female (51.1%), single (46.8%) without children (51.1%) and with low education. The time of institutionalization ranged from one month to 25 years. The most frequent reason for institutionalization was with purpose of treatment (29.8%) and majority reported receiving visits (80.9%). The elderly took an average of 3.45 medications (±1.87). Only 12.8% reported at least one fall in the last six months and 80.9% reported being afraid of falling. About 38.3% do not use assistive walk device; 12.8% use wheelchair; 42.5%, walker; and 6.4%, cane. The MMSE scores were low, 93.3% were below the cutoff score for their schooling. At GDS, 59.6% were suggesting possible depression. TUG range from 0.10 to 1.58 minutes. Most elderly people reported being independent to perform the activities of Katz (bathing: 80.9%; dressing: 83.0%; toileting: 80.9%; transferring 87.2%; urination 59.6%; defecation: 61.7%; feeding 93.6%) and none reported complete dependence. CONCLUSION: The profile of institutionalized elderly is consistent with the literature on clinical and demographic variables. However, most patients reported being independent for basic activities of daily living, which represents a good opportunity for interventions that aim to prevent or minimize possible losses of function.
Aged; Homes for the Aged; Clinical and functional profile
