Predictive factors for reduced functional mobility in elderly diabetics and non-diabetics

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the mobility of older adults treated in primary health care units in Brazil, as well as to investigate the association between reduced mobility, sociodemographic characteristics, and health conditions in the diabetic and non-diabetic elderly. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in two primary health care units with 205 elderly individuals. The “Timed-Up-and-Go” test was used to evaluate the mobility. The variables related to reduced mobility were verified by multivariate logistic regression. A total of 80% were women, 52.2% had diabetes mellitus, and the prevalence of reduced mobility was 81.0%. The following factors were significantly associated with reduced mobility in diabetics: occupation (p = 0.040), alcoholism (p = 0.019), smoking (p = 0.039), sedentary lifestyle (p = 0.033), high blood pressure (p = 0.018), and the percentage of body fat (p = 0.001). The variables that were found to be predictive factors for diabetes were as follows: triglyceride ((odds ratio [OR], 1.61; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.05–2.34; p = 0.038)), sedentary lifestyle (OR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.06–5.57; p = 0.018), and high blood pressure (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.09–4.02; p = 0.040). The prevalence of reduced mobility among the diabetic older adults in the study is extremely high when compared with results from other studies conducted in Brazil and worldwide. Moreover, a decrease in mobility is one of the main risk factors for falls in older people. Therefore, intervention and health promotion actions should be proposed to maintain and improve the mobility and autonomy of the elderly.