Autopercepção de saúde e aspectos clínico-funcionais dos idosos atendidos em uma unidade básica de saúde no norte do Brasil / Self-perceived health and clinical-functional of elderly in a basic health unit in northern Brazil

Objetivo: O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi conhecer os aspectos clínicos e funcionais e a autopercepção de idosos atendidos em uma unidade básica de saúde localizada em Ananindeua-PA. Materiais e Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevista no domicílio dos usuários ou na sala de espera da unidade de saúde, com auxílio de um protocolo de pesquisa que continha questionamentos da Caderneta de Saúde da Pessoa Idosa. A população amostral foi de 134 idosos. As hipóteses foram avaliadas pelo teste de Qui-quadrado com correção de Yates e Teste G. Para a avaliação da força de associação, foi realizado o cálculo do Odds Ratio. Resultados: A maior parte da população era do gênero feminino, com idade entre 60 e 79 anos, raça parda e escolaridade de 4 a 7 anos de estudo. A doença mais frequente foi hipertensão arterial sistêmica. A maioria dos idosos possuía autopercepção de saúde positiva. Houve associacão estatística da autopercepcão de saúde com a presença de quedas no último ano (p= 0,01), dificuldades para caminhar (p= 0,008) e incapacidade para exercer atividades instrumentais de vida diária (p= 0,02; p=0,02 e p=0,001). Conclusão: Concluiu-se que os idosos avaliados apresentam autopercepção de saúde positiva. Em geral, os dados clínicos e epidemiológicos constatados replicam achados de estudos nacionais. A caracterização desta amostra favorece a formulação de indicadores de saúde e implantação de ações preventivas. (AU)

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the self-perception of the health of elderly people and to identify the clinical and functional profile of elderly attended in one basic health care unit, in Ananindeua-PA. Materials and Methods: The research is characterized as transversal. Data were collected through interviews, in the users home or waiting room of the health unit, through a research protocol with Health Record questioning the Elderly. The sample size consisted of 134 elderlies. The hypotheses were evaluated by Yates-corrected Chi-square test and G test. For the analysis of the bond strength, odds ratio was used. Results: The majority of the population consisted of females, aging 60 through 79 years old, of mixed ethnicity, and scholarly ranging from 4 to 7 years of schooling. The most frequent disease was hypertension. Most elderly had positive or good self-reported health. There was statistical association of self-perceived health in the presence of falls in the last year (p = 0.01), difficulty walking (p = 0.008) and inability to perform instrumental activities of daily living (p = 0.02; p = 0 02 and p = 0.001). Conclusion: It is concluded that the elderly evaluated have a positive self-perception of health. In general, the clinical and epidemiological data found replicate findings from national studies. The characterization of this sample favors the formulation of health indicators and implementation of preventive actions. (AU)

Enriched environment and masticatory activity rehabilitation recover spatial memory decline in aged mice.

BACKGROUND: To measure the impact of masticatory reduction on learning and memory, previous studies have produced experimental masticatory reduction by modified diet or molar removal. Here we induced spatial learning impairment in mice by reducing masticatory activity and then tested the effect of a combination of environmental enrichment and masticatory rehabilitation in recovering spatial learning at adulthood and in later life. For 6 months (6M) or 18 months (18M), we fed three groups of mice from postnatal day 21 respectively with a hard diet (HD) of pellets; pellets followed by a powdered, soft diet (HD/SD, divided into equal periods); or pellets followed by powder, followed by pellets again (HD/SD/HD, divided into equal periods). To mimic sedentary or active lifestyles, half of the animals from each group were raised from weaning in standard cages (impoverished environment; IE) and the other half in enriched cages (enriched environment; EE). To evaluate spatial learning, we used the Morris water maze. RESULTS: IE6M-HD/SD mice showed lower learning rates compared with control (IE6M-HD) or masticatory rehabilitated (IE6MHD/SD/HD) animals. Similarly, EE-HD/SD mice independent of age showed lower performance than controls (EE-HD) or rehabilitated mice (EE-HD/SD/HD). However, combined rehabilitation and EE in aged mice improved learning rate up to control levels. Learning rates did not correlate with swim speed. CONCLUSIONS: Reduction in masticatory activity imposed on mice previously fed a hard diet (HD/SD) impaired spatial learning in the Morris water maze. In adults, masticatory rehabilitation recovered spatial abilities in both sedentary and active mice, and rehabilitation of masticatory activity combined with EE recovered these losses in aged mice.