DESEMPENHO FUNCIONAL DE IDOSOS COM TRANSTORNOS MENTAIS.

Objective: To verify the association between functional performance and sociodemographic and clinical data of the elderly with mental disorders. Methods: A Transversal study accomplished with 35 elderly diagnosed with a mental disorder, attended in a specialized service from the north region of the state of Ceará. The information gathered was from the social and clinical profile and their functional performance in basic and instrumental activities from daily life. Spearman's correlation test and Mann-Whitney1s test were used. Results: The depression was the most frequent mental disorder (94.24%). Most of the elderly were independent to execute all basic activities of daily life (62.85%). There was an association of the advanced age (p<0.05) and the increase of the number of psychotropic's usage (p<0.042) with a minor level of autonomy and independence for instrumental activities. Conclusion: Elderly people with mental disorders showed reduced functional performance associated with advanced age and the increase in the number of psychotropic's usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]