Prevalence of pre-frailty for the component of gait speed in older adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: to investigate pre-frailty and the factors associated with this condition, taking into account the measurements of the older adults' gait speed. METHOD: participants were selected by means of inclusion/exclusion criteria and a cognitive tracking test. The sample was calculated based on the estimation of populational proportion and made up of 195 older adults who were using a Primary Health-Care Center in Curitiba in the state of Paraná. Data was collected using a socio-demographic/clinical questionnaire and the gait speed test. RESULTS: pre-frailty for gait speed has moderate prevalence (27.3%), and is associated with the 60 - 69 years age range, a low level of schooling, not feeling oneself to be alone, using anti-hypertensives, having cardiovascular disease and being overweight. CONCLUSION: it is considered relevant to identify those older adults with pre-frailty, as this creates the possibility for immediate intervention with the aim of stabilizing the picture. There is a significant shortage of studies on the syndrome of frailty in Brazilian older adults, principally referring to components in isolation. Given that gerontological nursing is at an early stage regarding this issue, it is understood that the identification of the prevalence must be the key point of the research on the matter.