Relação entre o estado de saúde e o nível de força de idosas institucionalizadas em Fortaleza-CE

Abstract

Considering the large number of long-stay institutions in Brazil, the number of studies that investigate the health status and functional aptitude of the institutionalized elderly is still scarce. The objective of the study was to evaluate whether there is a relationship between health status and strength level in institutionalized elderly in Fortaleza, CE. A total of 28 elderly women, aged 60 years and over, from two long-term institutions participated in the study. For the evaluation of health status, the questionnaire on socioeconomic characteristics, personal, family and health care aspects adapted from Lebrão and Laurenti and Fonseca and Rizzoto was applied. To evaluate the strength level we applied the sit and lift tests and arm flexion of the test battery to evaluate functional fitness of Rikli and Jones. The results show little relationship between the two variables, but without any statistical significance. In relation to strength tests, the elderly women had results below the normative reference values. It was concluded that, no relation was observed between health status and strength level of the elderly. The fact that the elderly are weak may be a more relevant factor to be observed in this study, since it may lead to a worsening of health status.