Evaluation of cognitive performance in the elderly

Abstract Objective this research aims to analyze the process of human ageing, concerning cognitive aspects. Method epidemiologic-descriptive and transversal method was used. A sample of 65 elderly was constituted. Participants of this sample were interviewed about socio-demographic aspects and level of satisfaction with their lives, and were submitted to the Mini-Examination of Mental Condition (MEEM) Test. Results 83.1% of participants reported at least one disease; 59.3% - hypertension, 18.5% - spine problems and arthritis, 14.8% - osteoporosis, 13% - high cholesterol levels, 11.1% - heart diseases, 9.3% - arthritis and 3.7% - diabetes. Among the participants, 16.9% reported interruption of daily activities due to a disease or organic malfunction, and a majority reported a good health condition. Nevertheless, 66.2% reported some degree of memory impairment, this problem being frequent for 58.1% of them. And 73.8% reported participation in some kind of physical activity: walking (44.6%), hydrogymnastics (23.1%) and yoga (13.8%). Analysis of effects of variables showed isolated significant effect of school level over MEEM score (F=8.703, p

摘要：本研究的目的是分析人类衰老过程中的认知方面。研究方法采用流行病学描述性和横断面方法。选取了65位老年人为样本。样本参与者接受了关于社会经济人口学特征及其生活满意度水平的访谈，并接受了迷你精神状态检查（MEEM）测试。结果：83.1%的参与者报告至少患有一种疾病；其中59.3%患有高血压，18.5%患有脊柱问题和关节炎，14.8%患有骨质疏松症，13%患有高胆固醇水平，11.1%患有心脏病，9.3%患有关节炎，3.7%患有糖尿病。在参与者中，16.9%因疾病或器官功能障碍而报告日常生活活动中断，大多数参与者报告健康状况良好。尽管如此，66.2%的参与者报告存在一定程度的学习记忆障碍，其中58.1%的参与者经常遇到这一问题。同时，73.8%的参与者报告参与了某种形式的体育活动：步行（44.6%）、水中有氧运动（23.1%）和瑜伽（13.8%）。变量效应分析显示，学校教育水平对MEEM评分具有独立的显著影响（F=8.703，p