Avaliação psicogeriátrica na quarta idade

Abstract

The search for explanations of the ageing process appeared with the demographical growth and the longevity increase, which led to the distinction of two categories of ageing: the “young elderly”, from 55 to 75 years and the “old elderly”, with over 75 years. The fact of living longer and reach the fourth age may have negative consequences. This study, evaluating a group of elderly whit more than seventy five years, in two evaluation moments, separated by a five month distance, wanted to analyze if, in the fourth age, in a short interval of time, there are losses in capacities and abilities, decreasing the elderly functionality. The study was developed with a group of elderly from Centro Paroquial de Reboreda, from the Day Care Center and the Nursing Home valences. Initially, the group was composed by twelve functional elements (by the first moment of evaluation), finishing in the second moment with ten elements, due to the death from two elderly. To evaluate the elderly we’ve used the Escalas de Avaliação Psicogeriátrica (EAP) from Fonseca et al. (2008). The analysis from the data allowed to verify that most of the elements from the group have revealed a poorer performance, at the cognitive level, in the second moment of evaluation, evidencing that, in five months, there was a decline in the cognitive function and, therefore, in the functionality. Even the death from two of the elements of the group, between the two moments of evaluation, may also indicate an increased vulnerability in the fourth age. The present paper allowed also the reinforcement of the idea that longitudinal studies are important to understand and explain the ageing process.

Date of Award	Jul 2012
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Manuel Fonseca (Supervisor)