Avaliação da qualidade de vida de idosos acometidos por hipertensão arterial sistêmica.

Abstract

Population aging is a consolidated reality on the world stage. The growth of the elderly contingent brings significant demands on the health sector, especially the crushing burden of common chronic diseases in old age, such as systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), which consists of a complex injury that requires an effective therapeutic management and behavioral changes, which creates the need to investigate in the context of aging, which dimensions of QOL are influenced by SAH. The objective of this study was to evaluate the faceted and global QOL of elderly patients with hypertension. This is a survey of exploratory and observational, quantitative, held in the micro-region of Paraiba state of West Curimataú. The sample consisted of 237 elderly and data were collected using two instruments: the socio-demographic / behavioral questionnaire and WHOQOL-old, after approval by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital Universitário Alcides Carneiro, Federal University of Campina Grande an opinion No. 844,702. The results show that most of the individuals were between 60 to 74 years were female, retired and received only a minimum wage, with troubling lifestyle as 62.0% reported no physical exercise. The facets that make up the QOL construct highlighted is quoted "Activities Past, Present and Future" (PPF), which had the highest raw score (15.01) and "social participation" (PSO) with worst performance (13.51), demonstrating low participation of these activities, particularly those developed in the community, a factor that impairs their QOL. Note, therefore, that the study brings important contribution to improving the care of the elderly hypertensive patients, especially the aspects that make up the QOL. It is urgent, therefore, to promote strategies to include and enhance the participation of older people in the community through programs and social groups that address the different facets of QOL.