Avaliação da qualidade de vida e fragilidade de pessoas idosas hospitalizadas em uma instituição de ensino

Abstract

Introduction: Brazil is undergoing a demographic aging process, which requires the implementation of measures that promote improvements in the quality of life for the elderly population. Among the factors can lead to adverse health events, frailty stands out, which can compromise the quality of life of this population. There is a gap in the scientific literature regarding the assessment of frailty in the elderly in hospital settings and proposals for interventions based on the analysis of the profile of the population studied. Objectives: analyze the quality of life and the presence of frailty of research participants. Methods: this is cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted with 136 elderly individuals hospitalized in a teaching institution selected based on the following inclusion criteria: men and women aged 60 years or older, hospitalized for at least 24 hours, and who agreed to participate in the study. Exclusion criteria included: individuals in palliative care and/or those unable to answer questions due to confusion, disorientation, agitation, or dementia. A questionnaire was applied for the collection of sociodemographic data, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment for Older Adults (WHOQOL-OLD), was used to measure quality of life, and the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS), was employed to assess the degree of frailty. The data were statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 29.0, GNU PSPP 2.01 and GNU Jamovi. To investigate the relationships between quality of life and the degree of frailty of elderly people in relation to the study’s sociodemographic factors, Pearson’s Chi-Square test was used and, alternatively, Fisher’s exact test. Cramer’s Phi and V coefficients were calculated to evaluate the effect size of the associations. Results: among the 136 participants, men predominated (54.4%), aged 60 to 70 years (60.3%), with the majority self-identified as white (40.4%) and married (56.6%). In the quality of life scale, the best-rated domains were intimacy (42.6%), past, present, and future activities (43.4%), and sensory functioning (41.2%). In contrast, the domains with the worst evaluations and classified as “regular” were: social participation (42.6%), autonomy (47.8%), and death and dying (29.4%). It was observed that 28.7% of individuals were classified as “apparently frail”, followed by those “not frail” (27.9%). To analyze the relationship between quality of life and degree of frailty, the Spearman Correlation Coefficient was calculated, yielding a value of -0.419, indicating a moderate negative relationship between the variables. The bilateral statistical significance (p-value) was 0.001, confirming the existence of a significant relationship between the studied variables. A significant association between quality of life and age, color/race and marital status of the elderly participants was identified. Regarding frailty, a significant association was identified where the elderly person lives and with the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Conclusions: the correlation analysis between quality of life and frailty demonstrated a relationship between them. This investigation contributes to understanding the interdependence between quality of life and frailty in hospitalized elderly individuals, highlighting the need for specific intervention strategies aimed at improving the health and well-being of this population.