Comprometimento cognitivo em uma população de idosos em Montes Claros, Minas Gerais

Abstract

Population ageing constitutes a reality in the present world. With the increase in the proportion of elderly people in the general population, there is an increase in the prevalence of chronic conditions, among them, the cognitive decline. The cognitive decline syndromes, including dementia, are one of the most incapacitating and onerous health problems across the world. The clinic manifestation characteristic of dementia is a cognitive impairment, which is observed over time. Thus, the assistance of the elderly person must include a cognitive assessment and, for this, the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) is an appropriate tool. This analytical and cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment and associated factors in a population of elderly people in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, and also to describe the socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits and health conditions of this population. The subjects of this study were the elderly people registered and accompanied by urban teams from the ESF, or Estratégia Saúde da Família (Family Health Strategy), linked to the Family and Community Medicine Residency Program of Montes Claros, Minas Gerais. The data collection was made through the use of a semi-structured questionnaire (Brazilian Older Americans Resources and Services Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire – BOMFAQ) and occurred from the period of September 2016 to May 2017, during home visits. The questionnaire looked on sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age group, conjugal status, monthly family income and education level); lifestyle habits (smoking and regular physical activity) and health conditions (systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hospitalization in the last six months and cerebrovascular accident). For the cognitive assessment, it was applied the MMSE and the final results were adjusted by education level according to Bertoluci and collaborators. Descriptive analyses of the variables investigated by their frequency distribution were made, followed by bivariate analyses, and also by an estimation of brute odds ratio (OR) values, with confidence intervals (CI) of 95% through multinomial logistic regression. 1.746 elderly people were part of this study. It was verified a prevalence of cognitive impairment of 11,5%. The highest frequency of results compatible with cognitive impairment was observed: among the elderly people above the age of 80 (OR=4,463; CI=3,160-6,304); among the non-literate (OR=3,996; CI=2,716-5,791); among those who live without a companion (OR=1,989; CI=1,388-2,850); among those who do not practice regular physical activity (OR=1,777; CI=1,208-2,613) and among those who reported cerebrovascular accident (OR=3,635; CI=2,213-5,971). This study verified that cognitive impairment is present in a significant part of the elderly people living in urban territories of the Estratégia Saúde da Família of Montes Claros.