Prevalence of dementia and associated factors in institutionalized

In view of the population aging process, there is an increase in the prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases, such as dementia. This pathology is characterized by cognitive and functional decline, which can result in incapability of carrying out activities of daily living, being the main cause for institucionalization among the elderly. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of dementia and associated factors in institutionalized elderly. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional population-based cohort study, carried out with 474 individuals aged 60 years or older, living in Long-Stay Institutions for the Elderly. Clinical examinations and a structured questionnaire were applied. For statistical analysis, the Poisson Regression test with robust variance and descriptive analysis were used, considering p≤0.05 as significant. Results: A large portion of the sample was identified as female (71.5%) with a mean age of 80.27% ± 9.75 years. The prevalence of dementia was 49.78% in institutionalized elderly, and the factors associated with the dependent variable were living in a private LSIE, not receiving visits from family members, having a brain stroke, having fecal incontinence, dysphagia, low score on the Mini Mental State Examination and functional dependency (p≤0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of dementia in institutionalized elderly people is high, especially in those who live in private institutions, do not receive visits from family members, have had brain stroke, fecal incontinency, dysphagia, low score on the Mini Mental State Examination and functional dependency.