RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health care systems beyond capacity resulting in many people not having access to life-sustaining measures even in well-resourced countries. Palliative and end-of-life care are therefore essential to alleviate suffering and ensure a continuum of care for patients unlikely to survive. This is challenging in sub-Saharan Africa where lack of trained teams on basic palliative care and reduced access to opioids limit implementation of palliative and end-of-life care. At the same time, health care providers have to cope with local cultural conceptions of death and absence of advance care directives.
Assuntos
Betacoronavirus , Infecções por Coronavirus/terapia , Cuidados Paliativos/organização & administração , Pandemias , Pneumonia Viral/terapia , Assistência Terminal/organização & administração , Diretivas Antecipadas , África Subsaariana/epidemiologia , Analgésicos Opioides/provisão & distribuição , Analgésicos Opioides/uso terapêutico , Atitude Frente a Morte , COVID-19 , Barreiras de Comunicação , Continuidade da Assistência ao Paciente , Infecções por Coronavirus/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções por Coronavirus/epidemiologia , Infecções por Coronavirus/psicologia , Cultura , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde , Humanos , Cuidados Paliativos/psicologia , Pneumonia Viral/epidemiologia , Pneumonia Viral/psicologia , Relações Profissional-Paciente , Insuficiência Respiratória/tratamento farmacológico , Insuficiência Respiratória/etiologia , Insuficiência Respiratória/mortalidade , SARS-CoV-2 , Estigma Social , Assistência Terminal/psicologia , Tratamento Farmacológico da COVID-19RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: geriatric syndromes are multifactorial conditions that are associated with substantial disability, poor quality of life and mortality in the elderly. The patterns of these conditions are poorly described in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of common geriatric syndromes in Cameroon. METHODS: we conducted a cross-sectional study in the geriatrics unit of a university hospital in Cameroon. All people aged ≥55 who attended a health promotion and screening campaign in September 2019 were included. Geriatric syndromes including functional decline, cognitive impairment and sarcopenia were assessed. We also examined sociodemographic characteristics and comorbidities. RESULTS: overall, 104 participants were enrolled with median age of 65 (IQR: 62.2 - 70.8). About 67% of participants presented at least one geriatric syndrome. Disability in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living were present in 10% and 38% of participants respectively and associated factors were male gender (OR 4.7, p=0.005), age 75 and above (OR 5.7, p=0.027), osteoarthritis (OR 3.3, p=0.055) and polypharmacy (OR 7.7, p=0.012). Sarcopenia occurs in 26% with female gender (OR 3.1, p=0.029) and SARC-F ≥4 (OR 4.9, p=0.002) as associated factors. Cognitive impairment was present in 20% of participants and associated with illiteracy (p=0.008). CONCLUSION: our study shows a high prevalence of geriatric syndromes in older adults in an urban area. Geriatric principles and frailty awareness should be considered in clinical care of older adults in our setting.