The aim of study is to compare functional performance between elderly individuals with and without complaints of pain treated in primary health care.
Cross-sectional analytical study, with a minimum sample of 140 participants (70 in each group calculated by the GPower® software for the difference in means between two independent groups; effect size of 0.5, α err prob of 0.05, power of 0.9). The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Goiás and Hospital e Maternidade Dona Irís, opinions no. 4,617,086 and 4,680,770, respectively. The sample was divided into a group with pain (G1) and a group without pain (G2) based on the participants' self-report of pain. Sociodemographic variables were collected through self-report using a structured questionnaire developed by the authors. Functional performance measures were collected by the Sit and Stand 5 Times, Gait Speed, Hand Dynamometry and Timed Up and Go tests. Pain assessment in group G2 was performed by applying the “Geriatric Pain Measure” questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using the JAMOVI® software, using the Mann-Whitney U test for comparisons between the two groups, with a significance value of p 0.05
A total of 225 elderly individuals aged 60 to 92 years (69.9 ± 7.48 years) participated in the study, of which 135 (60%) were women and 90 (40%) were men. Regarding self-reported pain, 155 (68.9%) participants complained of pain (G1- N = 155) and 70 (31.1%) participants did not report pain (G2- N = 70). The adjusted total score of the Geriatric Pain Measure (GPM) was used to assess pain in G1, with 37 participants (16.4%) presenting mild pain, 79 (35.1%) moderate pain and 39 (17.3%) severe pain. The comparison of functional performance revealed that there was a difference between the two groups for the 5-times sit-to-stand test (p=0.001), gait speed (p=0.019), hand-held dynamometry (p=0.002) and timed up and go (p=0.001).
the functional performance of the group with pain was lower than that of the group without pain, therefore the presence of pain had a negative impact on the functional performance of elderly people.
in the context of public health in Brazil, identifying the presence of pain and functional decline in elderly people can help in early diagnosis as well as subsidize the implementation of successful therapeutic measures and improvement of the functional condition of the elderly population.
functionality
elderly
