Prevalência de quedas e dor crônica em pessoas idosas residentes no interior de Mato Grosso

Abstract

Health care for the elderly is crucial to be carried out comprehensively in health services, and Primary Health Care (PHC) is the first level of health care and involves actions focused on health promotion and prevention. An important tool for assessing the health of the elderly is the Elderly Health Booklet, which includes information on issues related to falls and chronic pain, which can significantly impact the health and quality of life of the elderly. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of falls and chronic pain in elderly residents of Pontal do Araguaia-MT. This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, in which the sample consisted of 80 elderly individuals who answered a questionnaire based on the information/questions in the elderly health booklet. The form was created in the Google Forms application, and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences® (SPSS) version 26 was used for data analysis, considering a significance level (⍺) of 0.05 (5%). The results showed that 54% of the participants were female, aged between 60 and 74 years, married, and with a monthly income from retirement. Regarding health conditions, it was observed that 31.2% of the elderly used polypharmacy, and 55% had systemic arterial hypertension as a comorbidity. The prevalence of falls was 77.5% among the elderly, and of these, 26.2% had fractures, predominantly in the lower limbs. Regarding pain, 73.8% of the elderly reported chronic pain, with moderate intensity in 35% of the participants. Falls were highlighted as a public health problem that causes serious harm to the lives of the elderly, and chronic pain as a factor that interferes with quality of life and functional capacity. It is concluded that, although there is no direct association between falls and chronic pain in this study, both are problems that should be investigated and treated, as they significantly affect the quality of life and healthy aging of the elderly.