Avaliação do nível cognitivo de idosos residentes no município de Icó-CE

Abstract

Cognitive decline is a condition characterized by the gradual decrease in cognitive abilities, and may be inherent to the natural aging process. However, when this decrease exceeds expectations for age and educational level, there is a negative impact on the quality of life of older people, potentially triggering the development of dementia. The present research aims to evaluate the cognitive level and associated factors in elderly people assisted/registered in Primary Health Care in the Municipality of Icó, Ceará. This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study carried out with 393 elderly people. The inclusion criteria were: individuals aged 60 years or over registered in Primary Health Care units in the municipality of Icó, Ceará, who had hearing capacity. Eight elderly people who did not have communication skills or who had severe visual and/or hearing impairments were excluded. To assess cognitive level, the Mini-Mental State Examination instrument was used. The sociodemographic data form was also used for all participants. The study was approved under opinion No. 5,632,551. The data were grouped and statistically analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Science version 22.0, using descriptive statistics and associations between the outcome variable (suggestive of cognitive decline), as well as the independent variables using the Chi-square and Fisher's exact with a significance level of 5% (p <0.05). The results indicated that the majority of participants are up to 79 years old, totaling 327 (83.21%), predominantly female, 245 elderly (62.34%), with little education, with 155 (39.44%) individuals with up to 4 years of studies, mostly Catholics 321 (81.69%), married 235 (59.80%), living with their family 334 (82.99%), income of two minimum wages 264 (67.18 %), retired 364 (92.62%) and who do not have a paid occupation 337 (85.75%). Regarding the assessment of cognitive function in the mini-mental state exam, the majority, 140 elderly people (35.62%), obtained scores of 25 to 26. Then, 114 (29.01%) achieved 20 to 24 points, 58 (14.76%) achieved 27 to 28, 42 (10.69%) scored above 29, and 39 (9.92%) scored less than 20 points. This study reinforced findings from the literature and also identified elements that suggest additional investigations. Replication in different contexts is recommended to develop effective measures to promote health and prevent cognitive impairment.