RESUMO
As quedas adquirem maior relevância com o aumento da população idosa em termos de saúde pública e de aspectos socioeconômicos. As médias do tempo de realização do Timed Get Up and Go (TGUG) em pacientes idosos ambulatoriais com relato de quedas acidentais e recorrentes foram comparadas neste estudo de corte longitudinal retrospectivo. Observa-se que o tempo de realização do TGUG, em média, foi significativamente maior nos idosos com relato de quedas recorrentes...
Falls obtain more relevance with the rise of the aged population in terms of public health and socioeconomic issues. The averages of the time to perform the Timed Get Up and Go test (TGUG) in ambulatory elderly patients with story of accidental and recurrent falls were compared in this retrospective and longitudinal study. It is noted that the time to perform the TGUG, in average, was significantly higher in the elderly with story of recurrent falls...
Assuntos
Humanos , Idoso , Acidentes por Quedas , Idoso , Equilíbrio PosturalRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: In an increasingly old society, the study of the respiratory system changes and new techniques dedicated to older patients are of interest in physiologic studies as well as in the diagnosis of respiratory diseases. OBJECTIVES: (1) To investigate the impact of ageing on the resistive and reactive properties of the respiratory system, and (2) to compare the easiness of accomplishment of spirometry and forced oscillation for assessing lung function. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in which forced oscillation was used to investigate respiratory system resistive and reactive properties, while spirometry was used as a reference test to evaluate 80 normal subjects aged between 20 and 86 years. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the easiness of accomplishment of spirometry and forced oscillation. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the respiratory system resonance frequency (p<0.003) and a reduction in the mean reactance (p<0.004) with increasing age. Respiratory system resistance and dynamic compliance were not related to the ageing process. The easiness of accomplishment of forced oscillation measurements was greater than that of spirometry. This result was particularly relevant in subjects over 70 years old (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory system resistance and dynamic compliance are not modified with ageing. On the other hand, respiratory system homogeneity decreases during the ageing process. Forced oscillation is easy to perform and provides information complementary to spirometry. This technique may be a promising alternative and/or complement to other conventional exams used to evaluate older people who are unable to adequately perform spirometric tests.