Violência contra o idoso

1265

The influence of falls on the quality of life of the aged

Adalgisa Peixoto Ribeiro 1
Edinilsa Ramos de Souza 1
Soraya Atie 1
Amaro Crispim de Souza 1
Arthur Orlando Schilithz 1

1

Centro Latino Americano de Estudos de Violência e
Saúde - CLAVES, Fundação
Oswaldo Cruz. Av. Brasil,
4036/700, Manguinhos.
21040-361 Rio de Janeiro RJ. [e-mail] Abstract The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of falls and their consequences on the quality of life of elderly people living in a lowincome community in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
This article is part of an explorative research conducted at CLAVES, using quantitative and qualitative methods. In this study we used quantitative data about falls and quality of life. 72 elderly aged over 60 years participated in the study. 51,4% of them were females, 20,8% lived alone and
37,5% admitted having suffered a fall during the last year. Among the most frequently mentioned consequences were fractures (24,3%), the fear of falling (88,5%), abandonment of activities
(26,9%), change of habits (23,1%) and immobilization (19%). The analysis showed that falls have influence upon in the quality of life of the aged. The WHOQOL-Bref domain scores showed a reduction in the means of the group that had suffered falls during the last year in comparison to those who didn’t fall, and the difference was more significant in the psychological field. In short, falls are frequent among the elderly and bring consequences that change the quality of life of these people in a negative way. Their incidence can be avoided by identifying the causes and developing appropriate preventive measures.
Key words Aging health, Falls, Quality of life

Resumo O objetivo desse artigo é analisar o efeito das quedas e suas conseqüências na qualidade de vida de idosos de uma comunidade de baixa renda do município do Rio de Janeiro. Este artigo é parte de um estudo exploratório realizado no