Does multimorbitdity interfere with the fundtionality of the physically active elderly?

Abstract Introduction: Multimorbidity is currently considered as a relevant clinical condition due to its severity and the high prevalence among the elderly. Objective: Assessing whether multimorbidity is an intervening factor in the functionality of the physically active elderly. Method: This is a cross-sectional study carried out with 70 older people of both sexes who practice exercises at the Fitness zones (FZ) in the municipality of Maringá, state of Paraná. A sociodemographic questionnaire, and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale (WHO-DAS 2.0) were used as instruments. Data analysis was performed by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney test and Spearman’s rank correlation, in addition to the Path Analysis (p <0.05). Results: the elderly who have more than two diseases showed worse functionality than the ones with none or from 1 to 2 diseases (p <0.05). The number of diseases showed a significant association (p <0.05) with a reduction in functional domain scores, which explains from 15% to 31% of the variable’s variability. Specifically, the number of diseases was positively associated with the strong effect on the domains referred to as self-care (β = 0.56) and cognition (β = 0.55), besides a moderate effect on interpersonal relationships (β = 0.39) and social participation domains (β = 0.39). Conclusion: it was concluded that multimorbidity can be considered as an intervening factor in the functionality of elderly people who practice physical activity.

摘要：共病（multimorbidity）目前因其病情严重性与老年群体中的高患病率，被视作具有重要临床意义的病症。研究目的：评估共病是否为规律运动老年人群躯体功能的中介影响因素。方法：本研究为横断面研究，纳入巴西巴拉那州马林加市健身区（Fitness Zones, FZ）参与锻炼的70名男女老年人作为研究对象。研究采用社会人口学问卷与世界卫生组织残疾评定量表（WHO-DAS 2.0）作为评估工具。数据分析采用柯尔莫哥洛夫-斯米尔诺夫（Kolmogorov-Smirnov）检验、克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯（Kruskal-Wallis）检验、曼-惠特尼（Mann-Whitney）检验、斯皮尔曼秩相关分析，同时开展路径分析，检验水准设定为p<0.05。结果：患2种以上疾病的老年人，其躯体功能较无基础疾病或仅患1~2种疾病者更差（p<0.05）。疾病数量与功能领域评分降低呈显著关联（p<0.05），可解释该变量15%~31%的变异性。具体而言，疾病数量与自我照顾（β=0.56）、认知（β=0.55）领域呈强正向关联，同时对人际关系（β=0.39）与社会参与（β=0.39）领域呈中等强度正向关联。结论：本研究证实，共病可被视为规律运动老年人群躯体功能的中介影响因素。