Association between Food Consumption, Quality of Life and Sleep Quality in elderly women with and without pain in the knees of the of Santa Cruz city / RN
Keywords: Food consumption; Quality of life; Elderly.
Introduction: In recent years, the proportion of Brazilian individuals over the age of 60 is growing rapidly. In Santa Cruz / RN, approximately 11.7% of the population is in the age group above 60 years. However, despite the fact that the elderly show higher life expectancy, they are more likely to expose chronic diseases and, consequently, poorer quality of life. In this scenario, it is worth emphasizing the importance of the food standard, from the prevention to the treatment of these diseases. Objective: To correlate food consumption with quality of life and quality of sleep in elderly women with and without pain in the knees of Santa Cruz / RN. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study with symptomatic elderly women (n = 49) and asymptomatic women (n = 51) for knee pain. Food intake was determined by the two-day arithmetic mean of R24h. The diets were analyzed in Dietbox® software. The energy requirement was calculated by the Harris & Benedict formula (1919) and the total calorie intake was analyzed considering the range of 97% to 103% in relation to GET. The macronutrients suitability was verified according to the AMDR. The prevalence of micronutrient inadequacy was estimated by the EAR method as a cutoff point and the inadequacy of water consumption was evaluated based on the recommendation of the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population. To obtain the QOL data the SF-36 was used and two instruments were used to determine the QS data (the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale). For data analysis, SPSS version 20.0 was used. Results: The mean age was 67 (± 8.0) years for the asymptomatic group and 67 (± 9.0) years for the symptomatic group. An average energy consumption of 1,723,75 Kcal, 19,96% of protein, 23,64% of total fat, 56,40% of carbohydrates and 1,480,50mL of water was observed. The energy intake was inadequate in 96.1% of the asymptomatic ones and in 93.9% of the symptomatic ones. In the groups, the highest prevalences of inadequacy (> 50%) were for vitamins A, D, E, folic acid, sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. The lowest prevalences of inadequacy were identified for iron and phosphorus (values between 2.0% and 10.2%). Inadequate intake of vitamin D (100% of those evaluated) is highlighted. In the group ≤ 69 years, statistically significant differences were observed for functional capacity, limitation for physical aspects, pain and vitality, with p = 0.000, 0.032, 0.001 and 0.045, respectively. In the group ≥ 70 years, significant differences were observed for functional capacity, pain and general health, with p = 0.001, 0.032 and 0.044, in this order. In relation to the values obtained in the IQSP, 5.9% and 8.2% of the asymptomatic and symptomatic patients presented sleep disturbances, respectively. Regarding the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, 35.3% of the asymptomatic ones and 49.0% of the symptomatic ones presented excessive daytime sleepiness. There was no association between the studied variables (rho values close to 0). Conclusion: Regarding food consumption, no statistically significant differences were observed between the groups. However, significant food inadequacies were recorded. Therefore, it is relevant to the accomplishment of political and educational actions that favor the adequate alimentary consumption. In addition, the study demonstrated that symptomatic elderly women had poor quality of life and poor quality sleep, compared to asymptomatic elderly women.