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Due to changes in the demographic, and the consequent aging of the population, it is essential to disseminate ways of bringing health knowledge to the elderly population, primarily to provide active and healthy aging. Thus, this paper reports the experience of actions designed at sharing information about aging with residents of the city of Uruguaiana-RS, Brazil. For this, from the creation of the "HappyAge" project, a partnership was established between an Academic League and a local radio station, as this media reaches different segments of the population and has a prominent role in the democratization of information. The actions were carried out weekly, in a dialogue format, between two students and the radio broadcaster. The chosen topics included themes such as hypertension and diabetes, as well as less explored subjects such as mental health and sexuality in the elderly. The topic definitions occurred together with the teachers involved in the project. At the end of the project, through interaction with the listeners, via digital communication platform, it became evident that there are beneficial effects to the general community when health knowledge is shared. Furthermore, the academics involved were also positively affected, since they deepened their communicative abilities and knowledge construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory training is an alternative for cognitive improvement with elderly, currently evidenced in Brazilian research. Nevertheless, there is no verification of the differences between types of training, in order to identify the effectiveness of different strategies in intervention. Therefore, this paper seeks to compare strategies adopted in the Brazilian context. A meta-analysis was carried out, evaluating the effect size, publication bias and heterogeneity of the studies. The results indicate a statistically insignificant effect from insignificant to moderate on the worked memory subsystems, although with a moderate and significant effect on incidental memory. The presence of bias in publications and high heterogeneity between studies are indicated. Subsequent meta-analyses should associate the results with methodological characteristics of the works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are only a small number of reported intervention studies to improve health literacy among older populations. This paper reports on a study designed to investigate the feasibility and potential impact on health literacy and health practices of embedding an intervention programme to improve health literacy with older people through established primary health care units (PHCUs) in a disadvantaged urban community in Brazil. This investigation utilized a quasi-experimental design, with 42 participants recruited for the intervention group and comparison group. The Alfa-Health Program was offered by a nurse in a PHCU as part of the public universal health system over a period of 5 months, and was compared for its impact on a range of health literacy and self-reported health outcomes with routine health care available for older people. The intervention achieved relatively high levels of participation, and positive feedback from participants. Some improvements in vaccination rates, health literacy and reported health behaviours related to food choices and physical activity were observed. The intervention made good use of existing facilities; the content and methods were well received by the participants. However, there were some difficulties in recruitment and in retention of participants. The study has demonstrated the practical feasibility of delivering a comprehensive health education programme designed to improve health literacy in a PHCU in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Falls are the fifth leading cause of death and are one of the main causes of hospitalization. The literature about falls prevalence among older adults living in rural/remote communities in South America is scarce. To compare falls prevalence among the elderly in the Andes, Peru, and in the rural area of the municipality of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Two separate cross-sectional studies were conducted in Peru, Andes (N = 413), and Brazil, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul state (N = 1029). We stratified all data analysis according to location (Andes/Rio Grande). Characteristics of the samples were compared and the chi square test for proportions was used. Falls prevalence was then calculated for each independent variable and crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated using Poisson Regression with robust variance. Falls prevalence in the last year was much higher in the Andes (64.1%) than in Rio Grande (25.3%). For most characteristics assessed, falls prevalence in Peru was at least double that found in Rio Grande. According to the adjusted analysis for the Andes, age (80 or more), being married, divorced and alcohol intake were significantly associated with falls. In Rio Grande, female gender and being in the 70–79 and 80 or more age ranges were associated with falls as well as those who self-rated their health as poor. This paper contributes to knowledge about falls prevalence among the elderly from rural and remote communities in two South American countries. Longitudinal multicentre studies with standardized methodologies are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multimorbidity is a public health problem with high prevalence and important consequences. The aim of this paper was to verify the prevalence and distribution of multimorbidity in Brazilian older adults.Methods: A population-based survey was carried out in 2008 through face-to-face interviews with 1593 older adults (aged 60 or over) living in Bagé, a medium-sized city in Southern Brazil. Multimorbidity was evaluated by 17 morbidities and operationalized according to two cutoff points: 2 or more and 3 or more morbidities. Descriptive analysis examined the occurrence of multimorbidity by demographic, socioeconomic and health services variables. Observed and expected dyads and triads of diseases were calculated.Results: From total sample, 6 % did not have morbidities. Mean morbidity was 3.6. Morbidities showing higher prevalence were high blood pressure - HBP - (55.3 %) and spinal column disease (37.4 %). The percent of participants with multimorbidity was 81.3 % (95 % CI: 79.3; 83.3) for 2 or more morbidities and 64.0 % (95 % CI: 61.5; 66.4) for 3 or more morbidities. In both measures occurrence was higher among women, the more elderly, less socioeconomic status, the bedridden, those who did not have a health private plan, those who used health services and those living in Family Health Strategy catchment areas. We found 22 dyads of morbidities with prevalence 10 % or more and 35 triads with prevalence 5 % or more. The most prevalent observed pair and triplet of morbidities were HBP and spinal column disease (23.6 %) and HBP, rheumatism/arthritis/arthrosis and spinal column disease (10.6 %), respectively.Conclusions: Multimorbidity frequency was high in the sample studied, in keeping with percentage found in other countries. The social inequities identified increase the health system challenges for the management of multimorbidity, requiring a comprehensive and multidimensional care. The combinations of diseases can provide initial input to include multimorbidity in Brazilian clinical protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: The prevalence of vitamin B12 nutritional deficiency increases with age and it is particularly common in elderly people. The objective this study was determining its prevalence and the factors associated with this condition in non-institutionalized elderly from Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil.Methods: a cross-sectional, population-based study was conducted in order to identify the prevalence and the factors associated with vitamin B12 deficiency among the elderly population in Viçosa (MG). Data were collected from August 2011 to June 2012, by means of a household survey and hematological and biochemical tests performed in 340 elderly.Results: the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in this group was 17.4% (95% CI, 13.4% - 21.4%). Cognitive impairment appears to be an important factor related to vitamin B12 deficiency.Conclusions: the current paper contributes to studies that emphasize some factors that may affect elderly performance in their natural aging process, especially when these factors are associated with cognitive impairment and lead to significant disability and loss of quality of life. Thus, the herein presented results were able to provide more comprehensive knowledge on the relation between B12 deficiency and its impact on this population. They also proved to be relevant for planning public health programs and initiatives that target on this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a literature review this paper sought the types and causes of injuries more frequent in the elderly also addressing how care is delivered in health in the country to that specific group. In recent decade the elderly population has increased considerably, and consequently accidents with trauma has been growing significantly in this age group. Thus, it is necessary for health professionals to adopt preventive measures that can avoid the trauma and thus reduce morbidity and mortality among this population. The decline is greatest among the mechanisms of trauma in the elderly. Furthermore, the clinical picture and the recovery of these patients require special conditions, since they have different characteristics from other age groups, so greater knowledge and expertise of professionals who will act in compliance with this elderly population is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to identify the perceptions of elderly hypertensive patients about therapy, related or not to adherence to medication. The qualitative sample consisted of 16 elderly of both sexes, aged 60 and older living in two rural districts of the municipality of Governador Valadares, Brazil, who used some medication to control blood pressure and had independent functional status and cognitive function preserved. Data was collected through open interview at depth, with the aid of a digital voice recorder, conducted between June and September 2010. The assessment of information obtained was performed according to the technique of content analysis of Bardin, which found these categories: Practice and knowledge, Hygienic and dietetic Measures (Food, Exercise, Stress and nervousness) and drug treatment. The results showed that older people have adequate knowledge about hypertension and treatment, but are driven, during therapy, to act according to their socially shared opinions and experiences. Moreover, elderly hypertensive non-adherent tend to consider hypertension as an acute, symptomatic and linked to emotional states. We conclude that, because of this misperception, it is necessary to reevaluate the guidance given to hypertensive patients by the health staff, and viable alternatives to promote health must be created, to change attitudes and practices regarding the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hip fractures in the elderly: cost of illness study in a public hospital perspective, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil This paper aims to assess direct medical costs associated to hospital treatment of hip fractures in the elderly in the Municipal Hospital Lourenço Jorge (HMLJ), Rio de Janeiro. Observational, prospective study to assess resource utilization and direct medical costs associated to elderly hip fracture hospitalization in 2007 and 2008, under the health care provider perspective. A standard data collection instrument was used to register identified resources during prospective medical charts review. The resource utilization was converted into Brazilian Real (R$), based on 2010 prices. Descriptive analysis of costs and resource utilization and their association with clinical and demographic variables were performed. Eighty two patients were included, 81.7% female, mean age of 76.96 years, hospitalization mean time of 12.66 days. Median total costs per patient were R$ 3,064.76 (IC95%: 2,817.63 - 3,463.98). Clinical hospitalization and surgical procedure were responsible for 65.61% and 24.94% of costs, respectively. Median costs for patients submitted to surgical procedure until the fourth day of hospitalization were lower than median costs for patients submitted after the fourth day (R$ 2,136.45 and R$ 3,281.45, respectively, p<0.00001). A significant difference in average costs per type of surgical procedure was also observed. Cost associated to inpatient treatment of hip fractures in the elderly was higher in patients who performed surgery after the fourth day of hospitalization. Clinical hospitalization and surgical procedure were the main cost components observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]