BURDEN OF FRAGILITY IN ELDERLY WITH DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE 2 AND RELATED FACTORS
Fragile elderly. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Chronic disease. Geriatric evaluation.
Introduction: Chronic Non Transmissible Diseases (CNTD) are the main causes of loss of quality of life in the elderly and entail important functional limitations. Among them, type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2) and Fragility Syndrome (FS) stand out due to the high prevalence and associated comorbidities. The fragility burden is an elementary measure in the measurement of this condition and can be associated with several variables. Objective: To determine the sociodemographic, clinical-functional and depressive symptoms related to the frailty burden in the elderly with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Methodology: This is an observational, analytical cross-sectional study conducted in Natal/RN. Elderly patients aged ≥ 60 years diagnosed with T2DM, with independent ambulation and not amputated participated. They were evaluated for socio-demographic data, clinical-functional, depressive symptoms and fragility phenotype. Descriptive statistics and the chi-square test were performed, followed by multivariate logistic regression analysis (p<0,05 and 95% CI). Results: The sample consisted of 125 elderly, mostly female (36,8%), overweight (62,4%), five or more diseases (65,6%) and depressive symptoms (53,2% ), reaching a mean of 68,76 (± 6,52) years old. The group with the lowest fragility burden prevailed (56,0%) and the low level of physical activity was the most cited phenotype item (72,0%). The final regression model showed that the fragility burden was significantly associated with age (p=0,016; [1,316-8,794]), schooling (p=0,002; [1,680-10,623]), lower limb pain (p<0.001; [1,935-11,766]) and TUGT (p=0.031; [1,145-15,659]) and this multivariate model presented 80,9% accuracy. Conclusion: the elderly with greater age, lower educational level, lower limb pain and worse functional mobility presented a 3,40, 4,22, 4,77 and 4,23 times greater risk of having a greater fragility load, respectively.