Factors associated with personal autonomy among the elderly: a systematic review of the literature

Abstract

The scope of this article is to identify factors associated with personal autonomy among the elderly. It is a systematic review of analytical epidemiological studies selected from the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Lilacs databases, without time and language constraints. The search located 3,435 articles and selection was conducted in two phases: reading of abstracts and entire articles, with inclusion and exclusion criteria, by two independent reviewers, resulting in seven selected studies. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale protocol. All studies included were of sectional design and analyzed autonomy from the perspective of the perception of increased autonomy. The instruments used were the Hertz Perceived Entity of Autonomy Scale and the Chinese version of Perceived Enactment of Autonomy Scale. The factors associated with the autonomy of the elderly identified were grouped by functionality, family relations, interpersonal relations, life perception, satisfaction with health services, demographic factors, schooling, general health status and quality of life. The study of personal autonomy among the elderly presented a multifactorial and biopsychosocial character, although it is a recent theme in which further research with more detailed scientific evidence is necessary.