Cognitive assessment on elderly people under ambulatory care

Objective: to evaluate the cognitive state of elderly people under ambulatory care and investigating the connection between such cognitive state and sociodemographic variables, health conditions, number of and adhesion to medicine. Methods: transversal, exploratory, and descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, realized with 107 elderly people under ambulatory care in a university hospital in southern Brazil, in november, 2013. The following variables were used: gender, age, civil status, income, schooling, occupation, preexisting noncommunicable diseases, number and type of prescribed medications, adhesion, mini-mental state examination score, and cognitive status. Data was analyzed through inferential and descriptive statistics. Results: the prevalence of cognitive deficit was of 42.1% and had a statistically significant connection to schooling, income, civil status, hypertension, and cardiopathy. Conclusion: nurses can intervene to avoid the increase of cognitive deficit through an assessment of the elderly person, directed to facilitative strategies to soften this deficit

Avaliação cognitiva de pessoas idosas em atendimento ambulatorial

identificar el estado cognitivo de ancianos en atención ambulatoria; investigar la asociación entre el estado cognitivo y las variables sociodemográficas, condiciones de salud, número y adhesión a medicamentos. Método: estudio transversal, exploratorio, descriptivo, cuantitativo, realizado con 107 ancianos en atención ambulatoria en un hospital universitario del sur del Brasil, en noviembre del 2013. Fueron utilizadas las variables género, edad, estado civil, renta, escolaridad, ocupación, enfermedades crónicas no transmisible preexistentes, número y tipo de medicamentos prescritos, adhesión, escore mini mental y status cognitivo. Los datos fueron analizados mediante la estadística descriptiva e inferencial. Resultados: prevalencia de déficit cognitivo fue de 42,1% y asociación estadística significativa con escolaridad, renta, estado civil, hipertensión y cardiopatía. Conclusión: el enfermero puede intervenir para evitar el aumento del déficit cognitivo con evaluación del anciano, direccionada a las estrategias que faciliten para disminuir esto déficit

(In)dependence of elderly people at their home in performing basic activities of daily living

We aimed to outline the (in)dependence in performing basic activities of daily living of elderly people at home; apply educational geronto-technology to minimize specific functional loss; identify functional changes of these people, after using educational geronto-technology. This is a descriptive quantitative research, carried out in Rio Grande-RS, Brazil, with 109 elderly in three stages, from February 2011 to April 2012, using structured interview and the Katz Index. Data were grouped for statistical/descriptive treatment. First stage: female (69.7%), aged 60-69 years (43.0%), married (42.2%). Second stage: applying educational geronto-technology. Third stage: profile similarity of elderly people regarding the first stage. In performing basic activities of daily living, 21% of the elderly presented some dependence in the two data collections, highlighting the (urinary) continence function. Nurses need to understand the functional assessment of the elderly as a guiding tool for the planning and implementation of care