Quality of Life and the Cognitive Condition of Elderly Served in Family Health Unit

Introduction: the cognitive impairment affects the functional capacity of the individual in their day to day, resulting in a loss of independence and autonomy, with consequent loss of quality of life of the elderly. Objective: investigating the relationship between cognitive status and quality of life of the elderly. Methods: a quantitative, observational, cross-sectional study conducted with 110 elderly in the Family Health Unit located in the city of Joao Pessoa. The instruments used were: socio-economic map, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), WHOQOL-Bref and WHOQOL Old. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. Results: the results showed that 64.5% of the elderly were female, aged between 60 and 64 years old, studied one and four  years, had a family income between one and three minimum wages, married and lived with their children and spouses, 20% of seniors had cognitive impairment, cognitive function that was more difficult to answer was "Constructive capacity". The domain "Social relations" and the facet "Sensory abilities" had the highest scores of the QOL. The domain "Environmental", the facets "Death and Dying", and "Past-Present-Future Activities of QOL” showed a positive correlation with cognitive state. Conclusion: the evaluation of the cognitive status of older people in primary care settings enables the generation of subsidies for the development of strategies at the level of attention, planning and implementing actions in health promoting QOL of the elderly.