[Prevalence and factors associated with the risk of falls among the elderly registered in a primary healthcare unit of the city of Natal in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil]. / Prevalência e fatores associados ao risco de quedas em idosos adscritos a uma Unidade Básica de Saúde do município de Natal, RN, Brasil.

The scope of the study was to analyze the prevalence and factors associated with falls among the elderly registered in a Primary Healthcare Unit (PHU) in Natal, State of Rio Grande do Norte. It involved a cross-sectional study conducted with 280 elderly individuals with data collected at the primary healthcare unit. The association between falls, recurrent falls and independent variables was assessed using bivariate analysis and Poisson regression with calculation of their respective prevalence ratios. It involved predominantly elderly females (68.2%) with mean age of 71.6 years (± 6.7), literate (54.6%), non-retired (73.5%) and sedentary (87.1%). 53.6% of the elderly recorded falls and 27.8% fell twice or more. The predictive model of falls included the female gender (PR= 1.81), osteoarticular diseases (PR = 1.71) and balance impairment (PR = 0.88), while functional mobility (PR = 0.94), fear of falling (PR = 1.21) and balance deficit disorders (PR = 0.80) constituted the definitive model of recurrent falls. A higher prevalence of single fall episodes was found and the associated factors included sociodemographic, health and physical performance variables. On the other hand, the occurrence of two or more falls were only associated with physical performance variables.

[Pain and functionality in primary health care]. / Dor e funcionalidade na atenção básica à saúde.

Musculoskeletal pain and functionality are linked to the individual health and, thus, influence the mode of interaction between individuals and between them and the environment that surrounds them. However, there are not many studies that question such health issues concerning the population in general, especially when we look at these issues from the basic care point of view. The aim of this article is to present initial data on the subject of pain and functionality in individuals with musculoskeletal complaints enrolled in a primary care unit and prompt a discussion on how complete the services provided by these units are. This study was carried out in a primary care unit and various households, among subjects aging 20 years or older. A functionality assessment tool and a Visual Analogue Scale were applied, and social and demographic issues were also considered. By using these tools, it was made an attempt to evaluate the profile of individuals in association with their degree of musculoskeletal pain and the degree of functionality in the activities of their daily lives, ages and occupations. We found a predominance of women in both groups: 84.37% and 81.25%, respectively. Nearly half of all people with musculoskeletal pain were housewives, and the average age between groups was over 55.

Are the postures adopted according to requested linguistic categories similar to those classified by the recording protocols?

Knowledge on how workers perceive and associate their postures for trunk flexion with respect to linguistic categories, could allow for the development of simple and valid instruments for self-assessment and for more effective postural training. Considerable time and expense could be saved if reliable self-assessments were available. This study describes the anterior flexion angles of the trunk adopted by individuals according to linguistic categories (mild, moderate and severe) and registered by photograph. The postures were compared with postural recording protocols. Twenty sedentary individuals (10 male and 10 female) and 12 industrial female workers (6 healthy and 6 low back sufferers) participated. Subjects were capable of discriminating linguistic postural categories, since they adopted different trunk postures when distinct categories were requested (p< 0.0001). However, the individual variability was high for each category estimated. This could explain, at least in part, the low level of agreement between self-assessment and observational studies.