A communication profile of elderly people assisted in a reference center

Abstract

Introduction: As the number of elderly people is increasing, it’s necessary an special attention to this part of population. The speech therapy in this area has advanced to develop actions in elderly care, expanding their knowledge and improving their intervention strategies. Therefore, it’s necessary to know what are the changes and demands of speech-therapy more often found in elderly people. Objective: Characterize the changes and more frequent speech therapist procedures in the elderly evaluated by a team of a Reference Center, and establish a relation between the subject of the medical referral and speech therapy findings. Methods:  Exploratory, cross-sectional, retrospective data collection from medical records of patients included in the speech center of reference in the period January-July 2012 Results: 514 records were included. The main reasons for the doctor’s referral were swallowing (32%), hearing (29%), benign paroxysmal positional vertigo - BPPV (20%) and dizziness (12%). The speech-therapy’s diagnoses were: dysphagia (26%), hearing loss (22%), absence of functional impairment (12%), VPPB (10%) and no diagnosis (17%). There was agreement in 77% between doctor’s referral and speech-therapy’s diagnoses. The most frequent behaviors were: orientation (40%), rehabilitation (28%), hearing health program (11%) and core support to family health - NASF (10%). In 11% of the cases, the behavior hasn’t been established. Otorhinolaryngology, dentistry and nutrition were the referrals suggested. Conclusion: The study provided the identification of the most frequent speech pathology in the elderly allowing targeting qualification professional gerontologist and health promotion, protection and recovery of health.