Chronic diseases and functional risk of balance and gait in older adult women
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v78.119002Keywords:
Aged, accidental falls, chronic disease, gait, postural balanceAbstract
Introduction: Chronic diseases in older age affect functional capacity and increase clinical vulnerability. Their comprehensive assessment allows for a more accurate understanding of fall risk in older women.
Objective: To analyse the relationship between chronic diseases and functional risk in older women, considering continuous medication use and current illness.
Methodology: A quantitative, observational, cross-sectional, and analytical-relational study was conducted in 61 older women. A structured clinical record form, the Tinetti Scale, and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test were applied. The analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics using chi-square tests and exact tests, according to the distribution of frequencies.
Results: Mild functional risk predominated on both the Tinetti Scale (75.4%) and the TUG test (70.5%). Overall comorbidity showed no significant association with functional risk (Tinetti, p = .558; TUG, p > .999). However, antihypertensive use showed an association with the distribution of functional risk on the Tinetti Scale (p = .031). Osteoarticular conditions showed a descriptive difference that did not reach statistical significance (p = .075), whereas active ocular diseases showed a distribution concentrated in the moderate-risk category, a finding that should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of cases.
Discussion: The findings suggest that the distribution of functional risk may vary according to specific clinical and therapeutic conditions.
Conclusions: Antihypertensive use may be associated with greater functional impairment in balance and gait. Integrated clinical and pharmacological assessment may contribute to a more contextualised identification of functional risk.
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