Falls Frequency In Elderly Assisted In The Family Health Strategy

The growth of the elderly population is a global phenomenon and, in Brazil, this transformation is happening in a very fast way. Objective: knowing the frequency of falls in the context of an aging population attended in a Health Family Unit. Method: This is a transversal research with a sample consisted of 121 elderly. A questionnaire was applied to the participants and the results were statistically analyzed with the Chi-Square test and Fisher's exact used to verify the association between variables. Results: The results show that the majorities were female (76.9%); concerning marital status, 35.3% are married; 92.1% with family income between one and two minimum wages; and 91.8% live with their spouse and/or children. The study showed a significant statistically association between female gender (p=0.001) , leading to the conclusion that there is a tendency that older woman suffers more falls than men. We found an occurrence of falls in 69.9% of women while this rate reaches 32.1% in male elderly. Conclusion: Therefore, it is expected that these results can help to give a new look to the understanding of the falls with the Health Family Units.