TAVARES, João Paulo de Almeida; GRACIO, Joana    NUNES, Lisa. Hospitalized older adults: functional trajectory in Portuguese hospital. []. , serIV, 18, pp.19-27. ISSN 0874-0283.  https://doi.org/10.12707/RIV18028.

Background: The functional trajectory (FT) of hospitalized older adults (HOA) is an important and underestimated prognostic concept. Objective: To analyze the FT of HOA between baseline and 3-month follow-up. Methodology: Prospective cohort study with 101 HOA admitted to departments of internal medicine. Functionality was assessed using the Katz Index at 3 moments: baseline, discharge, and follow-up. Functional decline (FD) was defined as the loss of at least one point on the Katz Index, compared to baseline score. Results: A FD of 54.5% occurred between baseline and hospital discharge. In the follow-up, 41.6% of the older adults did not recover baseline functional status. Four main trajectories were identified: improvement (7.53%), stability (30.11%), recovery (25.81%), and decline (36.55%). Conclusion: FD is very significant. Functional recovery occurs mainly after hospital discharge. Hospitals and practitioners should adopt care interventions or models focused on maintaining or restoring functionality during hospitalization and enhancing post-discharge rehabilitation.

: aged; functional decline; hospitalization.

        · | |     · |     · ( pdf )