Assessment with Short Physical Performance Battery Scale of Functional Ability in the Elderly over 70 years

Abstract

Objective: to assess, according to the Short Physicial Performance Battery Scale (sppb), the functional ability of the elderly over 70 years, to detect early functional disability/pre-delicacy and to analyze the relationship between the score of the questionnaire and the levels of albumin, calcium and vitamin D. Methods: descriptive, cross-sectional study that included 77 patients over the age of 70 who attended consultation with their Family physician for different reasons. It was applied the sppb scale to measure calcium, albumin, and vitamin D values. Pre-delicacy was considered when the obtained score of the sppb was less than 10. Results: the overall score of the questionnaire was 7.75 ±2.72 points, which placed the 67.5% of the patients in pre-delicacy. A correlation between the overall score and the score was determined by sections; four meters walking speed was the one with the highest coefficient of correlation with the total score. Vitamin D, calcium and albumin levels were not correlated with the sppb questionnaire score. Conclusions: the percentage of pre-delicacy patients over 70 years was very high. It is proposed the use of the walking speed (1.9 ±0.5 min) for those physicians who have patients’ saturation, since it presented the strongest direct linear relationship with the complete realization of the sppb questionnaire.