Relação entre o equilíbrio corporal e o risco de quedas em idosos de um projeto social de Fortaleza-CE

Abstract

Analysis of the relationship between body equilibrium and risk of falls on the old people of a social project in Fortaleza-CEThe number of elderly people is growing in Brazil, being important to carry out studies contemplating this population, aiming to know it better, in the attempt to create mechanisms that improve their lives. Balance and gait are abilities directly associated with the occurrence of falls in the elderly. The objective of the study was to analyze the relationship between body balance and risk of falls in elderly participants of a social project in Fortaleza-CE. For that, the balance and gait were evaluated in 45 elderly people of both sexes, aged 65-90 years, using the Tinetti and Timed up and go tests. The relationship between balance and the risk of falls was analyzed in relation to variables such as gender, age group and the time of participation of the elderly in the project. To associate the variables, the Fisher's exact test was used at a significance level of p<0.05. The results showed that according to Tinetti's test, only the variable related to the age group showed a significant difference when compared to its subgroups (p=0.026). Regarding Timed up and go, the variables analyzed did not present significant differences. It can be concluded that, among the variables analyzed in the tests, the age group was the only one that presented a positive relation regarding the risk of falls in the elderly, considering the Tinetti test. The other variables had an independent effect on the tests. However, the applied tests presented expressive percentages that are in agreement with the findings in the scientific literature on the subject.