Fatores que interferem na qualidade de vida do idoso com diabetes Mellitus: revisão integrativa

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Aging brings numerous physiological changes such as changes in the taste, vision, nervous system and, in addition to these, some chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, can be pointed out as a factor that favors the vulnerability of the elderly person and in some cases even makes it difficult to maintain the quality of life of these individuals, considering that this is a metabolic disease that is associated not only to blood glucose levels but also to changes in the body as a whole, especially when it is related to serious complications. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the scientific literature available on the factors that interfere in the quality of life of elderly patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODOLOGY: This is a study by which the criteria of integrative literature review were applied. The guiding question of the study was: "What are the possible factors that interfere in the quality of life of the elderly with diabetes mellitus?". The databases used for the study are: Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences - (LILACS), Scientific Electronic Library Online - (Scielo Brasil), Specific Database of Nursing - (BDENF), and the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online - (MEDLINE). We used descriptors extracted from the DeCS (Descriptors in Health Sciences): Aging and (AND) quality of life and (AND) diabetes mellitus, in addition to the nursing research descriptors and (AND) method, in Portuguese language. The following inclusion criteria were established: scientific articles available on the Internet, indexed in the SciELO, LILACS, BDENF and MEDLINE databases, published between 2008 and 2018, in English and Portuguese. As exclusion criteria: editorials, review studies, reviews, opinion articles, books, book chapters, editorials, dissertations, theses and reports, letters and other studies that did not answer the guiding question of the research. It is important to emphasize that the content of the articles will be maintained, according to publication, thus guaranteeing the authorship of the articles used. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: From the analysis of the eight articles selected, thirteen of these factors can be highlighted. They are: Being diabetic for over ten years, delay in diagnosis time, lack of performance of the multiprofessional team in some units, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, geographical access barriers, functional capacity decrease and complications of the disease, factors that reduce the quality of life of the elderly, visual deficit, smoking, history of falls, scarcity and / or resource constraints, while the implementation of educational programs in the units and the humanization in the elderly care contribute to improvement in all domains which assess the quality of life. With this, it is worth mentioning that diabetes is closely related to the emotional state of its patients, even before the diagnosis of the disease, often affecting the quality of life due to pre-disease aspects. CONCLUSION: It is inferred that access to health services is one of the determining factors in the maintenance of individuals' quality of life, especially elderly people living with chronic diseases such as DM, considering that the performance of a multiprofessional team for of quality care contributes to the promotion of the health of the elderly in the units and is directly related to the well-being and the prevention of diseases. In addition, it is important to consider the role of the nurse, who should regularly monitor and use other resources, such as qualified listening and educational strategies, so that the elderly can self-care and thus avoid complications of chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus.