Functional Dependence and Family Support Perception in the Elderly

Abstract

Objective: to associate the degree of functional dependence and family support perception of the elderly. Methods: descriptive and cross-sectional study. Non-randomized sample by convenience. 298 patients of the Family Unit no. 21 of the National Social Security Institute (imss) in Mexico City were included, age from 60 to 86 years voluntary participated. The data collection tools were the scale of Lawton Brody and the Family apgar. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was performed. Results: by analyzing the family support perception by gender with the U Mann Whitney test, this was best for women (score 9), than that for men (score 8.3), with a significant difference (p<0.003) and with Lawton Brody women showed less dependence (score 6.37) than men (score 5.38), with significant differences (p<0.0001) so, in relation to the gender there are differences. Conclusions: it is important to detect functional dependence at the earliest possible, with validated scales easy to apply in Primary Care level, in order to perform strategies of continuous care and actions that increase the autonomy and independence of the elderly.