Relação entre fatores físicos, cognitivos, religiosidade, medo da morte e qualidade de vida em idosos da comunidade

Abstract

The aging process generates important changes in lifestyles, which affect biological, psychological and social aspects. The dynamics of health in old age are complex and influence the process of functionality or incapacity of the individual, involving not only physical aspects, such as muscle power and cognition, but also subjective and cultural aspects, such as quality of life, fear of death and religiosity. Although these factors are widely discussed in the academic literature, they are often poorly related and are treated separately. In this sense, there is a need for research that integrates them. Thus, the objective of this research was to analyze the relationship between muscle power of the lower limbs, cognitive capacity, quality of life, fear of death and religiosity in community-dwelling elderly individuals. The sample consisted of 105 elderly individuals (with a mean age of 73 years and standard deviation of 6.81), 89 women and 16 men. To assess muscle power of the lower limbs, the Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test was used; Cognitive capacity was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination, the Verbal Fluency Test, and the Trail Making Test. The Religiosity Scale was used to analyze religiosity. Fear of death was assessed using the Death Anxiety Scale. Finally, the Quality-of-Life Assessment questionnaire was used to analyze the quality of life of the elderly. Data analysis was performed using a descriptive and inferential statistics approach. Frequency and percentage were used as descriptive measures for categorical variables. For numerical variables, data normality was initially verified using the Shapiro-Wilk test. A correlation test was performed to analyze possible relationships between variables, using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The significance level adopted was 5% (p < 0.05). A statistically significant and positive correlation was found between lower limb muscle power, cognitive ability (r = 0.19; p < 0.05) and quality of life (r = 0.20; p < 0.05). A positive correlation was also found between cognitive ability, religiosity (r = 0.25; p < 0.05) and quality of life (r = 0.28; p < 0.05) and a negative correlation between anxiety about death and general quality of life (r = 0.29; p < 0.05). It is concluded that lower limb muscle power, cognitive ability, fear of death and religiosity are factors that can be associated with quality of life in the elderly.