Prevalence of mobility impairment in institucionalized elderly

Abstract

Objective: To identify the prevalence of mobility impairment in institutionalized elderly people and its correlation with the clinical and functional conditions, a cross-sectional study was carried out with 191 people aged ≥ 60 years residing in 13 long-stay institutions for the elderly in Passo Fundo, year of 2014. Method: A structured questionnaire was used, applied to the elderly or to the technical managers of the institutions. Sociodemographic variables related to health and specific questions about walking difficulties were considered. It was considered mobility impairment the need of any help or aid to walk, be it a cane, a walker or even restriction to bed. A descriptive and bivariate analysis of the data was performed. To verify the association between the categorical variables Pearson’s chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were applied at a significance level of 5%. Results: The prevalence of mobility impairment was 50.3%. They used wheelchairs 41.7%, walkers 16.7%, canes 14.6% and crutches 3.1% and were bedridden 24%. Of the elderly with mobility impairment, 89.6% were dependent to perform daily living basic activities and 62.5% considered their health as fair, poor or very poor. Conclusion: The high prevalence of mobility impairment, including many bedridden elderly people, highlights the need for preventive interventions before institutionalization and the minimization of the complications that these conditions can bring.