Incidence and risk factors for polypharmacy among elderly people assisted by primary health care in Brazil.

Background: Polypharmacy is recognized as a global public health problem and one of the greatest challenges related to the aging population. Few studies have investigated the incidence and risk factors for polypharmacy among elderly individuals. These studies provided important information on the issue but were developed in high-income countries.

Factors associated with instrumental activities of daily living dependence in the elderly: a case-control study.

The main goal of the study was to determine the factors associated with dependence to perform instrumental activities of daily living in the elderly. A population-based case-control study was conducted, with 180 elderly people from Passo Fundo-RS, 2014. The cases were represented by 60 individuals aged ≥ 60 years, dependents to perform instrumental activities of daily living residents of the urban area of the city.

Effects of using a mobile health application on the health conditions of patients with arterial hypertension: A pilot trial in the context of Brazil's Family Health Strategy.

Brazil's Family Health Strategy (FHS) leads public health policies and actions regarding community health, addressing arterial hypertension (AH) in primary care settings. In this scenario, the use of communication technologies becomes appropriate for the monitoring of patients with AH. To preliminary verify the intervention approach and the effects of using an m-Health application on the health conditions of patients with AH for a future study, we conducted a non-randomized, controlled, non-blind trial (N = 39), comparing the use of a mobile health app (m-Health) with conventional AH monitoring over 3 months.

Knowledge and attitude towards type 2 diabetes among older adults: a population-based study.

The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with knowledge and attitude towards type 2 diabetes mellitus among older adults with the disease. A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted on 204 older adults from the public healthcare network of Passo Fundo, RS. Sociodemographic data were collected and the DKN-A, ATT-19 and IPAQ were used for the assessment of diabetes knowledge, psychological attitudes towards diabetes and physical activity, respectively.

An Electronic Health Platform for Monitoring Health Conditions of Patients With Hypertension in the Brazilian Public Health System: Protocol for a Nonrandomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Chronic noncommunicable diseases such as arterial hypertension have a high impact in the context of public health. Previous studies have shown improvements in blood pressure due to simple lifestyle changes, which were supported by electronic health (eHealth) solutions.

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an eHealth platform and assess the effects of its use on the health conditions of patients with hypertension, with assistance from health professionals in the public health system of a Brazilian city.

Prevalence of household falls in long-lived adults and association with extrinsic factors.

Objective: to identify the prevalence of falls among older adults and the extrinsic factors associated with them.

Method: population-based cross-sectional study with 350 older adults. A household survey was conducted using a questionnaire addressing socio-demographic, clinical, and environmental characteristics.

Conditions of functional health literacy of an elderly diabetics group.

Objective: to evaluate the conditions of functional health literacy of an elderly diabetics group.

Method: cross-sectional and descriptive study, with diabetic's elderly assisted in the SUS (N = 114). The social and health conditions were evaluated as well as functional health literacy by S-TOFHLA test (short version); the simple proportions, average, standard deviation and Pearson's Chi-square were described by SPSS software (20.

[Long-term care institutions for the elderly and their structural coupling with the surrounding social systems].

This study was performed in six Long-Term Care Institutions for the Elderly (LTCIEs) that helped low-income senior citizens in three regions of the country. Its aim is to examine how LTCIEs' internal organizational system maintained structural coupling with surrounding systems. The data were collected through interviews and observation.

[Institutionalized elderly: functional capacity and physical fitness].

This study analyzed the relationship between physical fitness and functional capacity in 78 residents of long-stay institutions for low-income elderly located in five regions of Brazil. The majority of the sample consisted of women, and mean age was 77.4 years (SD = 7.