Functional capacity of institutionalized older adults and the community, Nicaragua 2016

Abstract

The objective of this study is to compare the functional capacities between two groups of older adults, those who inhabit a nursing home and those who live in the community. It is a cross-sectional, descriptive correlational, quantitative study, its unit of analysis are the older adults living together in different scenarios that were selected by convenience, being this a total of 28 adults (14 in each place). The techniques used were: interview, home visit, and direct and indirect observation. The instrument used was the clinical evaluation of the older adult. The SPSS 22 statistical software was used to process the data, which were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics of simple frequency, contingency tables, and Spearman’s Rho and Pearson tests with a significance of 5%. The main results show the predominance of the male sex in the nursing home with 57.1% and in the community the female with 71.4%, the age ranges for both were between 65 and more than 85 years, the greatest representation of origin in both was Managua, the levels of schooling were primary and secondary. In relation to health conditions, in both scenarios they presented more than two chronic diseases (89%), and have functional dependence in basic activities of daily living and instrumental activities (85%). Likewise, high and moderate levels of fall risks were found (42.84%). It is concluded that the two populations are significantly similar, both have limited functional capacities and some people reach the condition of disability.