Preliminary Assessment of the Quality of Life and Daily Burden of Caregivers of Persons with Special Needs: A Questionnaire-Based, Cross-Sectional Survey.

Caregivers of persons with special needs (PSN) experience a variety of burdens and elevated levels of stress and anxiety throughout their lives, leading to a physical, psychological, emotional, social, and financial overload. This analytical study with a cross-sectional design and a quantitative approach aimed to appraise quality of life (QoL), reflecting the daily workload of informal family caregivers of PSN. METHODS: Four structured, validated questionnaires were utilised: sociodemographic, WHOQOL-bref, Zarit Burden Interview, and Functional Independence Measure Scale in 60 anonymous volunteered respondents. RESULTS: The informal caregivers were middle-aged mothers (81.7%), married (55%), stay-at-home spouses (60%) with high school degrees (51.6%), providing a care for their relatives with special needs for more than 20 years (41.8%). Most of the PSN were diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD, 61.8%), had a wide spectrum of intellectual deficits, and required constant support for their basic needs. They were mainly adolescent males without physical limitations (83.4%) on disorder-specific medications (90%). The study revealed that those caregivers had a median perception of QoL considering four essential domains, with a highest score recorded for the physical domain (64.3 +/- 16.1 SD). A moderate burden level prevailed, revealing neither a correlation between the workload expressed by caregivers and the patient's functional capacity, nor in the performance of daily self-care tasks (Spearman correlation test p > 0.05), apart from the environmental domain (mild correlation = 0.335, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The reported average level of overload associated with QoL of informal caregivers exists, affecting a vast proportion of the respondents. The absence of a direct association between workload and the functional capacity/daily self-care tasks can be related to the significant personal dedication of family caregivers, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Prevalência das lesões orais em idosos atendidos no serviço de estomatologia do Instituto de Saúde de Nova Friburgo ­ UFF/RJ / Prevalence of oral lesions in the elderly treated at the stomatology service of the Instituto de Saúde de Nova Friburgo ­ UFF/RJ

Objetivo: realizar um levantamento epidemiológico acerca das alterações na mucosa oral dos pacientes acima de 60 anos, atendidos no serviço de Estomatologia do Instituto de Saúde de Nova Friburgo - UFF/RJ, no período de 2013 a 2018, e estabelecer as principais causas e formas de tratamento. Materiais e Métodos: estudo retrospectivo e observacional, com análise descritiva, através da coleta de dados nos prontuários: idade, sexo, cor da pele, ocupação, lesão e sua localização. Resultados: foram analisados 640 prontuários, destes, 395 (61,7%) apresentaram lesão, sendo 132 (20,6%) deles com mais de uma lesão. Dos 395 com lesão, 57,0% (225) eram do sexo feminino. A cor de pele branca representou 56,7% (224), porém 107 prontuários não apresentaram essa informação. A amostra contou com pacientes de 60 a 91 anos, com média de 65 anos. No total foram encontradas 613 lesões. Queilite actínica foi a mais prevalente 15,5% (95), seguida da estomatite protética 14,0% (86) e hiperplasia fibrosa 13,4% (82). Conclusão: os indivíduos idosos do presente estudo apresentaram alta frequência de lesões orais, sendo a queilite actínica, estomatite protética e hiperplasia fibrosa as mais comuns.

Objective: to carry out an epidemiological survey of oral mucosa lesions of patients aged over 60 years, attended at the Stomatology Service of the Nova Friburgo Health Institute - UFF/RJ, from 2013 to 2018, and to establish the main etiologies and forms of treatment. Materials and Methods: retrospective and observational study through data collection from medical records as: age, gender, skin color, occupation, lesion and its location. Results: 640 medical records were analyzed, of which 395 (61.7%) had lesions, 132 (20.6%) had more than one lesion. Of the 395 with injuries, 57.0% (225) were female. White skin color represented 56.7% (224), but 107 medical records did not present this information. The sample included patients aged 60 to 91 years, with a mean of 65 years. In total, 613 injuries were found. Actinic cheilitis was the most prevalent 15.5% (95), followed by prosthetic stomatitis 14.0% (86) and fibrous hyperplasia 13.4% (82). Conclusion: the elderly individuals in the present study had a high frequency of oral lesions, with actinic cheilitis, denture stomatitis and fibrous hyperplasia being the most common.