Podal changes and mobility in elderly assisted in geriatric outpatient clinic

Abstract

Objective: to determine the most frequent podal changes and their harm in the mobility in elderly outpatients. Method: this descriptive study was conducted with 121 elderly people who were treated in a geriatric outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Data were collected through interviews subsidized by structured tool and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: we observed high incidence of feet problems, especially in women and the young elderly, highlighting foot pain in the majority of respondents. There was also a predominance of elderly with partial independence. Conclusion: it is identified the need for special attention to the health of aged people who reports pain in feet, since this tends to restrict their usual activities, causing decreased quality of life, immobilization and possible falls.