Capacidade funcional como indicador de longevidade: um estudo com longevos participantes do PIFPS

Abstract

As the world's population ages, there is a growth in the population segment of people aging from 80 and over, the longevous. Nowaday, this demographic group grows at a faster rate than any other, and this growth raises new lines of research related to people who have exceeded life expectation. From this perspective, this study aims to present the profile of the longavous elderly regarding functional capacity, depressive symptoms and sociodemographic characterization. For this, all the longevous who participate in the Programa Idoso Feliz Participa Sempre (PIFPS) were interviewed, in total 15 elderly, male and female. To contemplate the proposed objective, scales were applied to evaluate the Basic and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ADL, IADL), as well as the Geriatric Depression Scale. The main results found are that the majority are women, widowhood prevails and the living arrangement is familiar. There was also heterogeneity in economic status and level of education. Regarding functional capacity, the participants were independent for all BADL functions and most were unable to perform some IADL function, beyond that some elderly people presented depressive symptoms. It is concluded that both depressive symptoms and functional capacity need to be known to detect the physical and functional condition of PIPFS participants.