Almir Vieira Dibai Filho

Avaliação da capacidade funcional de idosos institucionalizados na cidade de Maceió - AL - doi:10.5020/18061230.2010.p168

Objective: To assess, by means of Katz Index, the functional capacity of institutionalized elderly in relation to their basic activities of daily living. Methods: We conducted a quantitative and cross-sectional study in a sample of 62 institutionalized elderly of both genders, from the House of the Poor of Maceio, Alagoas, with a mean age of 77.03 ± 7.77 years, with different levels of functionality, being emphasized activities related to self-care. Individuals initially classified as independent, partially dependent and fully dependent, were reclassified regarding functional dependence according to the score of the Katz Index. Results: There was a setback in the functional capacity of elderly in all functions assessed by the Katz Index, being more evident at older ages. Conclusions: We observed in this study, by applying the Katz Index that, in accordance with advancing age, there is a setback in the functional capacity of elders. Moreover, we confirmed the presence of functional dependency even in younger subjects, which showed the deficit of the functions in institutionalized elderly. NCT00895856

Conhecimento e interesse em saúde pública: opiniões dos alunos de graduação em fisioterapia - doi: 10.5020/18061230.2012.p59

Objective: To analyze the opinions of undergraduate students in Physical Therapy on acquired knowledge and interest in the study of Public Health. Methods: This is a crosssectional and qualitative study conducted in a private higher education institution, in Maceio-AL, Brazil, from June to December 2010. It comprised students from 5th and 10th period, which were allocated by convenience sampling, resulting in a final sample of 40 students with 20 students from each period. Later, each student was individually interviewed in a private, lit, air conditioned place, without time limit, being collected through a digital voice recorder the answers to the following questions: “How do you judge your knowledge about Public Health?” and “What is your interest in the study of Public Health?”. Collective subject discourse was used to analysis of qualitative variables. Results: Students considered their knowledge of Public Health as “limited”. Regarding their interest, the students in 5th period declared “little interest”, while the academics of the 10th period reported themselves as “very interested”. Conclusions: From the point of view of undergraduate students in Physical Therapy, their knowledge about Public Health is limited. Interest in the study of Public Health is greater among the academics closer to graduation.