Avaliação do trânsito intestinal em relação ao estilo de vida em idosos de um clube de terceira idade / Intestinal problems related to the way of life in aged people of a third age club
Inadequate lifehabits and poor diet linked to the ageing are the principal factors that may aggravate the elderly health and bring about diseases, such as constipation, hypertension, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The objective of this study was to evaluate the intestinal problems of 136 elderly people in a third age club in São João ? Paraná. They answered a questionnaire to identify constipation as well the factors that can interfere in this disease. Among those interviewed 20.59% had constipation. The average fiber intake in the total interviewed population was 9.63g/ day and the greater food intake was vegetables. Concerning the fluid intake, the majority of the aged people told they drink between 1 and 3 glasses of water a day. Regarding the physical activity, only 23.53% of them did not practice it; however 25.73% practice daily physical activities. Analyzing the presence of any disease or ingestion of any medicine which may cause constipation, the study found 75.74% of the interviewed people suffered some disease and/or used medicines. Although the majority of elderly do not have constipation, a considerable number of them had it, making it necessary to conduct more research on constipation subject.