Falls and quality of life of people with cataracts.

Quedas e qualidade de vida de idosos com catarata. (Portuguese)

Objective: To investigate the association between falls and quality of life in elderly individuals with cataract. Methods: This was an observational and cross-sectional study carried out in the Federal District, Brazil, with a sample of 38 community-dwelling elderly individuals, who were divided into two groups: falling elderly (n=18) and non-falling elderly (n=20). The NEI-VFQ-25 was used as a tool to assess the patient overall health and the quality of life related to visual health. Sample characterization was performed by descriptive analysis and the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test (p<0.05) was used to evaluate the association between falls and the other variables. Results: Elders within the age group ≥ 70 years old were the majority in this study. 36 participants (94.74%) of this study claimed to have some vision problems. Falling elderly presented lower scores when compared to the non-falling elderly (p=0.0159) and they also showed worse mental health (p=0.0001), higher level of dependence (p=0.0008) and greater difficulty to perform up close vision tasks (p=0.0299) and far vision tasks (p=0.0104). Conclusion: Falls have a negative impact on the quality of life of elderly individuals with cataract, which makes preventive actions and the treatment and/or correction of visual impairments important in order to avoid future harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objetivo: Investigar a associação entre quedas e qualidade de vida em idosos com catarata. Métodos: Tratou-se de estudo observacional com delineamento transversal, realizado no Distrito Federal, Brasil, com uma amostra de 38 idosos comunitários divididos em dois grupos: idosos caidores (n=18) e idosos não caidores (n=20). Avaliou-se por meio do instrumento National Eye Institute - Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (NEI-VFQ 25) a saúde geral dos indivíduos da amostra, assim como a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde visual. A caracterização da amostra foi realizada por meio da análise descritiva a fim de avaliar a associação entre quedas e demais variáveis, utilizou-se o teste não paramétrico de Mann-Whitney (p<0,05). Resultados: A faixa etária ≥ 70 anos prevaleceu entre os participantes da pesquisa (63,16%). Dentre os idosos que fizeram parte deste estudo, 36 (94,74%) relataram ter algum problema para enxergar. Idosos caidores apresentaram escore geral mais baixo, quando comparados aos não caidores (p=0,0159), apresentaram também maior dificuldade em realizar atividades para perto (p=0,0299) e para longe (p=0,0104), pior saúde mental (p=0,0001) e nível mais elevado de dependência (p=0,0008). Conclusão: As quedas interferem negativamente na qualidade de vida de idosos com catarata, tornando as ações para prevenção de quedas e o tratamento e/ou correção do déficit visual importantes para evitar prejuízos futuros. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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