FUNCTIONAL AND MOBILITY CHANGES IN INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY: LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Introduction: Aging is a dynamic process, in which morphological and physiological changes occur at all levels of the organism, which can trigger disabling processes, affecting the functionality of elderly individuals, making it difficult or preventing the performance of their daily activities independently, the which can significantly compromise the quality of life of the elderly. Objective: To demonstrate, through a literature review, the functional and mobility changes in elderly individuals. Methodology: This is a literature review carried out through the selection of scientific articles published in journals indexed in the SCIELO (The Scientific Electronic Library Online) and PUBMED (National Library of Medicine) databases, with the search occurring among the months of September and October 2022, using the descriptors extracted from the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS): Functionality, Mobility, Physiotherapy and Elderly, through the Boolean operator AND, to combine the terms so that they simultaneously correspond to the objective. The bibliographical survey referred to publications of scientific articles between the years 2010 to 2022, which were available in full and in Portuguese and English, cross-sectional, intervention, prospective self-control and case report studies. Abstracts of presentations, monographs, reviews, dissertations and/or academic theses were excluded. Results: We can identify that elderly people aged ≥ 60 years have higher levels of functional and mobility limitations, because over the years this patient has a greater predisposition to chronic diseases, often resulting in impairment in carrying out their daily activities, such as hygiene, mobility and locomotion, sensory and cognitive dysfunctions. Conclusion: Considering the analysis of the articles included in the present work, patients affected by these alterations have sensory and motor functional disorders, affecting movement control, locomotion, cognitive function, which often entails the assistance of caregivers and their functional independence.