Quality of life evaluation of frail elderly in Campinas, São Paulo

the convenience sample included 122 frail elderly being treated from January 2010 to July 2011, out of a total of 668 frail elderly who were referred to the CRI after application of the brief evaluation form of the elderly, recommended by Ministry of Health, which identifies the elderly with some degree of frailty. Descriptive observational study collected data through sociodemographic questionnaire and quality of life questionnaires: WHOQOL-BREF, WHOQOLOLD and SF-36.

Results:

the study included 122 frail elderly. Of these, 74.6% (91) were female, mean age 73 years, 46.7% (57) were married, 51.6% (63) had less than 3 years of schooling and 87.7% (107) reported income of one to four minimum wages. The mean total score of the WHOQOL-BREF was 56.6, the WHOQOL-OLD 57.6 and SF-36 Physical Component Summary 34.5 and Mental Component Summary 43.6.

Conclusion:

knowledge of the impairment profile of quality of life among frail elderly is, therefore, essential for planning health care to this population.

Keywords:
quality of life; frail elderly; health services for the elderly

	n
Gender
Male	31	25.4
Female	91	74.6
Age (mean/SD)	73	7.5
Marital status
Single	11	9.0
Married	57	46.7
Divorced	9	7.3
Widowed	45	36.8
Level of education (years)
0 to 3	63	51.6
4 to 8	46	37.7
≥ 9 years	13	10.6
Income
< 1 minimum salary^† † Minimum salary = R$510.00 - R$545.00 (variation in the research period).	11	9.0
1 to 4 minimum salaries	107	87.7
> 4 minimum salaries	4	3.2

Domains	Mean	Standard deviation	Minimum/maximum
Physical	44.8	18.4	3.6 – 85.7
Psychological	60.0	14.4	16.7 – 87.5
Social relations	67.3	13.3	16.7 – 100
Environment	54.0	11.1	18.8 – 81.3
General	56.6	11.2	17.6 – 79.5

	Coefficient	t	95CI	p > \| t \|
Domains	64.97	10.04	52 - 78	0.000
Education	3.72	1.5	0.78 – 6.6	0.014
Income	-4.17	-1.42	-10 – 1.66	0.159
Marital status	-3.33	-2.89	-5.6 – 1.05	0.005

Domains	Mean	Standard deviation	Minimum/Maximum
Sensory functioning	61.3	22.7	0 –100
Autonomy	47.9	17.0	12.5 – 93.7
Past, present and future activities	57.8	12.9	18.7 – 81.2
Social participation	49.2	17.4	6.2 – 81.2
Death and dying	68.4	22.8	6.2 – 81.2
Intimacy	61.0	15.9	12.5 – 100
Total score	57.6	11.1	31.3 – 80.3

Associação Médica Brasileira R. São Carlos do Pinhal, 324, 01333-903 São Paulo SP - Brazil, Tel: +55 11 3178-6800, Fax: +55 11 3178-6816 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: ramb@amb.org.br

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[1] *Correspondence: Address: Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 455 São Paulo, SP – Brazil Postal code: 01246-903 Phone: + 55 11 3061 8610patricia.soarez@usp.br