Clinical-Functional Vulnerability of Elderly Users of Primary Healthcare: Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Identifying health and life conditions related to the loss of functionality of the elderly contributes to the construction of public policies and interventions that help them live with more autonomy and independence. In the reality of Primary Health Care (PHC), the identification of fragile elderly or those at risk of fragility needs to be simple and fast. The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical-functional vulnerability of elderly PHC users. This was a quantitative and transverse study, carried out through the application of the clinical-functional vulnerability index-20 (CFVI-20), which evaluates eight predicting domains of functional decline and death in the elderly: age, self-perception of health, activities of daily life (ADL), cognition, mood/behavior, mobility, communication, and presence of multiple comorbidities. 67 elderly people with an average age of 69.1 (± 6.9) years old were included. Of these, 47 (70.0%) were female, 43 (64.1%) were retired, 41 (61.1%) had an incomplete elementary education, 42 (62.6%) expressed some physical limitation, and 42 (62.6%) were sedentary. Everyone showed a change in at least one of the eight domains evaluated by CFVI-20, especially mobility (n = 67; 100%), cognition (n = 54; 80.5%), and mood (n = 40; 59.7%). Finally, 23 elderly (34.3%) were classified as robust, 30 (44.7%) as being at risk of fragility, and 14 (20.8%) as fragile. Most elderly evaluated were at risk of fragility or fragile. The CFVI-20 has proved to be an instrument of simple and rapid application in PHC to contribute to the identification, monitoring and management of elderly at risk of clinical-functional vulnerability.

Keywords

• elderly health care
• patient care team
• vulnerability in health