Fátima Ferretti

Quality of life in the elderly with and without chronic pain

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In the last decade, the elderly population has grown worldwide, both in developed and developing countries. Together with the aging process, the prevalence of chronic diseases and consequently the presence of pain are common and may have a strong impact on the quality of life of the elderly. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of elderly patients with and without chronic pain and to compare the quality of life with the number of chronic pathologies, pain intensity and age range METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in a city in the West of the state of Santa Catarina with a sample of 385 senior people living in the urban area. The instruments of analysis were: the Mental State Mini Exam; the general data questionnaire adapted from Morais, Rodrigues e Gerhardt; The WHOQOL-OLD questionnaire, and a visual numerical scale. For the intergroup comparison, the Mann-Whitney test was used, and Pearson’s correlation was used in the correlations. RESULTS: It was observed the predominance of pain of moderate intensity. Old people with chronic pain have a lower quality of life index than the group without pain regardless the gender, and those who have chronic pain and age above 71 years have a lower quality of life index. CONCLUSION: The presence of chronic pain, number of diseases, pain intensity, female gender and age group above 71 years negatively influenced the quality of life of the elderly studied.

Depressive symptoms in the elderly and its relationship with chronic pain, chronic diseases, sleep quality and physical activity level

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Depressive symptoms are often experienced by the elderly, being a public health problem. The objective of this study was to verify the relation between depressive symptoms and the presence and intensity of chronic pain with sleep quality and physical activity level. METHODS: Research with 385 aged residents in a municipality of Santa Catarina. The Morais adapted questionnaire, the numerical visual pain scale, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire were used to assess the level and volume of physical activity, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Geriatric Depression Scale. Data analysis by the Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square (X2) and Spearman’s correlation. RESULTS: Of the 385 aged evaluated, 30.6% had depressive symptoms. Older people who had depressive symptoms complained more of pain, poor sleep quality and had less physical activity (p=0.001). The X2 values between chronic pain, sleep quality and physical activity level with presence and absence of depression symptoms were 25.078, 27.707 and 9.009, respectively (p<0.05), and the correlation between depressive symptoms and sleep quality was 0.423 (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Elderly people with depressive symptoms had a higher intensity of pain, worse quality of sleep and lower intensity of physical activity. There was an association between the presence of chronic pain, level of physical activity and quality of sleep with depression symptoms and moderate correlation between depression symptoms and sleep quality

Sleep quality in the elderly with and without chronic pain

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Brazil has been experiencing rapid aging of its population. Aging, even without chronic diseases, involves some functional loss, which is expressed by reduction in vigor, strength, readiness, metabolic efficiency, and often pain, which can lead to fatigue and sleep changes. Sleep quality is essential for the physical and emotional well-being of elderly individuals. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sleep quality among elderly with and without chronic pain that live in a town in Santa Catarina State. METHODS: Interviews with 385 senior citizens living in the urban area of a town in Santa Catarina. The research tools used in the data collection were the Mini-Mental State Examination, an instrument adapted from Morais, the visual numerical scale and the Pittsburgh questionnaire. RESULTS: Among the elderly interviewed, females (67.27%, n=259) and the 60-69 years age group (45.45%, n=175) prevailed. Among the 385 elderlies, 58.18% (n=224) had chronic pain, predominantly of moderate intensity (48.66%, n=109). Among the elderly with pain, 57.59% (n=129) presented poor sleep quality; among those without pain, 56.52% (n=91) had good sleep quality. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the intensity of pain, number of chronic self-reported diseases and age group are factors that influence the sleep quality of the elderly, thus indicating the importance of health professionals working in this context with new studies and resources.

Dor lombar, flexibilidade muscular e relação com o nível de atividade física de trabalhadores rurais

RESUMO O objetivo foi investigar a dor lombar, flexibilidade muscular e relacao com o Nivel de Atividade Fisica (NAF) de trabalhadores rurais. Pesquisa transversal com 184 trabalhadores rurais, 44,24 (±10,83) anos. Avaliou-se o NAF pelo Questionario Internacional de Atividade Fisica (Ipaq); dor e disfuncao lombar pela Escala Visual Analogica da dor (EVA) e Indice de Incapacidade Oswestry (IIO); avaliacao da Flexibilidade Toracolombar (FBW) e de isquiotibiais (Ângulo Popliteo - AP - e Teste de Elevacao da Perna Retificada - TEPR). Os dados foram analisados pelos testes Kruskal Wallis, seguido pelo U de Mann-Whitney e correlacao de Spearman. Houve correlacao negativa entre a EVA com a FBW, AP e TEPR. A variacao da dor pela EVA foi alta, e individuos sedentarios possuem menor flexibilidade de isquiotibiais.

Itinerário terapêutico de idosas com lombalgia crônica

Introducao: Nas ultimas decadas o Brasil envelheceu e a maior parte dessa populacao carrega consigo doencas proprias do envelhecimento. Dentre as doencas cronicas que mais acometem os idosos, destaca-se a lombalgia cronica, que e um quadro de dor que gera desconforto. Objetivo: Identificar o itinerario terapeutico de idosas com lombalgia cronica. Materiais e metodos: Pesquisa qualitativa que utilizou entrevista com questoes norteadoras na coleta de dados. Foi realizada analise de conteudo tematica a partir de tres etapas: pre-analise, exploracao de material, tratamento dos resultados e interpretacao. Resultados: Foram selecionadas 4 idosas com cognitivo preservado, media de idade de 63,5 anos e 8,75 anos de diagnostico medico de lombalgia. Apos analise, emergiram 5 categorias que detalharam o processo de busca por tratamento para a dor cronica lombar, desde os sintomas ate a fase atual. Consideracoes finais: Conhecer o itinerario terapeutico de idosas com dor cronica lombar constituiu-se numa estrategia para ampliar as informacoes sobre as dificuldades enfrentados na busca pelo tratamento, e como estabelecer uma acao mais eficaz para a saude destas pessoas.

Ações de reorientação da formação profissional em Fisioterapia: enfoque sobre cenários de prática

Este artigo buscou identificar, a partir da optica de docentes e estudantes, acoes que evidenciam a reorientacao da formacao profissional em Fisioterapia, no âmbito do eixo Cenarios de Pratica, conforme preconizado pelo Programa Pro-Saude. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa que seguiu o metodo de estudo de caso, realizada em uma universidade comunitaria com 16 estudantes e 11 docentes do curso de Fisioterapia. A coleta de dados foi conduzida por grupo focal e entrevista. Entre as acoes que evidenciam a reorientacao da formacao profissional estao: realizacao do diagnostico situacional, praticas em complexidade crescente, diversificacao de praticas nas disciplinas profissionalizantes, vivencias interdisciplinares no servico publico de saude, praticas multiprofissionais e intervencoes na Atencao Basica. Para promover avancos no processo de formacao profissional, e necessario criar estrategias de ensino-aprendizagem continuas e planejar as praticas de forma integrada com os servicos de saude.