Morbidade e sua interferência na capacidade funcional de idosos Morbidity and interference in seniors' functional ability*

Objective: Identifying the interference of morbidity of the functional ability of seniors receiving care in an outpatient clinic of a school hospital, in Ribeirao Preto – SP, from January 1, 2001 to December 30, 2002. Methods: The instrument of assessment used in this study was “Older Americans Resources and Services” and a questionnaire elaborated by the study authors. Results: Data from 195 seniors assessed were analyzed descriptively, with most of tem being female (70.3%). Age varied from 61 to 97 years, with 76 years being the average. The most frequent diseases were hypertension (HYP) (72.3%), dyslipidemia and atrhrosis (24.1% each), arthritis (23%) and diabetes (21.5%). Those interfering in seven or more daily life activities (DLA) were: Stroke (82.6%), cataract (45.5%), osteoporosis (35.0%) and HYP (31.8%); those interfering in three or more instrumental daily life activities (IDLA) were: stroke (83.4%), cataract (61.9%), heart disease (55.0%) and Chagas’ disease (47.4%). Conclusion: Morbidities interfere in the seniors’ functional ability to perform DLA and IDLA.