SILVA, M. I. L.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/6856651664745825; SILVA, Maria Isabel Leandro da.
Resumo:
Falls, which are considered a geriatric syndrome, can bring serious physical, emotional and
social consequences for the elderly. Due to its high frequency of occurrence and loss to the
quality of life of the elderly, they indicate a public health problem. This is an exploratory and
descriptive study with a quantitative approach using documentary database that aims to
determine the prevalence of hospitalizations for falls involving elderly people in the Regional
Hospital of Cajazeiras - PB. The study population consisted of 197 records elderly people
who were admitted to the Regional Hospital of Cajazeiras - PB because of falls and the
sample of (197) 100% of records the elderly. The project was approved by the Research
Ethics Committee under the report number 38958214.1.0000.5181490. We analyzed 490
medical records of elderly patients hospitalized for trauma to the RHC, from January 2011 to
December 2014, from those a total of 197 hospitalizations of elderly people were due to
injuries from falls, corresponding to a prevalence of 40.2% during that period . Ages ranged
from 60 to 100 years old or older, with na average of 74.1 (SD = 9.9) years, and the range
with greater distribution was from 60 to 70 years old with 43.7%. As to gender, 63% of the
elderly were female and 37% male. The most common type of fall was the fall from their own
height with 84.3%, and 15.7% corresponded to other types of falls. Regarding the main reason
for admission 69.6% required surgical procedures, 27.9% had risks of complications of the
injury and 2.5% for presenting pain, swelling and limitation of movement. For the most
frequent fractures 21.3% corresponded to the forearm bones fracture, 17.3% to wrist fractures
and 14.7% transtrochanteric femoral fractures. It was noticed that 97% of the elderly
underwent a surgical procedure with an average of 1.03. And only 3% did not require surgical
intervention. The hospital stay ranged from one to thirty-three days, from which seven days of
stay was the average. Thus, this research confirms the predisposing factors and disorders
resulting from falling by elderly people pointed in previous studies, and highlights the
importance of implementing health promotion measures in primary care and prevention of
these falls, through the strategic role of a multidisciplinary team, especially nurses, in order to
reduce the risks of falls in this group.