Perfil de fragilidade de pessoas idosas com doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica residentes na comunidade

Abstract

Introduction: In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), symptoms impact exercise tolerance and functionality. Advanced age is a common factor between COPD and frailty. However, the risk of frailty is not routinely investigated in elderly people with COPD, which may lead to less impact of functional dependence prevention strategies. Thus, the stratification of elderly people with COPD in frailty profiles can provide important prognostic information, enabling the development of prevention, promotion and rehabilitation actions in health. Objective: Stratify frailty profiles and detail functional disabilities of community-dwelling elderly people with COPD. In addition to correlating frailty levels with health indicators. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Community-dwelling elderly people with a diagnosis of COPD who answered the Vulnerable Elders Survey -13 (VES-13) questionnaire, present in the elderly person's health booklet, were included to stratify the frailty profile. The categories of the Comprehensive International Classification of Functioning (CIF) Core Set for COPD to detail limitations and functional disabilities were analyzed based on the response to the VES 13. Results: The study included 25 elderly people with COPD, with a mean age of 68.9 years. As for the vulnerability classification, 12 (48%) of the volunteers presented a robust elderly profile, 8 (32%) with a pre-frail elderly profile and 5 (20%) with a frail elderly profile. No significant correlation was found between VES-13 and age (r=0.212; p= 0.309), BMI (r= 0.081; p=0.699), calf circumference (r= -0.212; p=0.309), FEV1/FVC (r= 0.152; p=0.490), physical activity (Rho=-0.298; p:0.148), falls (Rho=0.171; p=0.415), unintentional weight loss (Rho= 0.118; p=0.576). Regarding the ICF Core Set for COPD, the relevance of the categories found in the present study is highlighted, with difficulty or inability to perform household tasks (36%), to walk (40%), and difficulty or inability to squat (60%). Conclusion: Elderly people with COPD who live in the community have a higher prevalence of pre-frailty and frailty. In this way, frailty screening in elderly people with COPD living in the community still needs to be deepened, considering the conditions of access to health services in this population.