Cogitare Enfermagem (Jun 2015)

FRAILTY ASSESSMENT OF ELDERLY HOSPITALIZED AT AN EMERGENCY SERVICE OF A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

  • Juliane de Fátima Santos Antunes,
  • Meiry Fernanda Pinto Okuno,
  • Maria Carolina Barbosa Teixeira Lopes,
  • Cássia Regina Vancini Campanharo,
  • Ruth Ester Assayag Batista

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5380/ce.v20i2.39928
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 2
pp. 264 – 271

Abstract

Read online

The objective in this study was to assess the frailty of elderly hospitalized at the Emergency Service of a university hospital in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The data were collected between March and June 2014. Cross-sectional study involving 101 elderly, hospitalized for 24 hours or more. To develop the analysis, the Edmonton Frail Scale was applied. The mean age was 75 years, 50.5% female, 58.4% did not finish primary education, 89.1% retired or pensioner and 84.2% accompanied by a caregiver. Frequent antecedents were: arterial hypertension (65.3%), diabetes mellitus (65.3%) and smoking (44.6%). Concerning the frailty, the mean total score was 9.85, indicating moderate frailty. The elderly people with neurological diseases, dementia, more advanced age and who had a caregiver demonstrated higher levels of frailty. Frailty screening favors planning with a view to preventing disability and the worsening of the elderly people’s health conditions.

Keywords