Follow-up de uma população metropolitana de idosos: perfil neuropsicológico do envelhecimento cognitivo
Data
2006
Autores
Aguiar, Ana Cristina Procópio de Oliveira 
Orientadores
Bueno, Orlando Francisco Amodeo
Tipo
Dissertação de mestrado
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Resumo
O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi analisar, por meio de um estudo longitudinal, as modificações no perfil de algumas habilidades cognitivas de uma população metropolitana de idosos da cidade de São Paulo, composta por 32 sujeitos oriundos de uma pequena amostra que havia feito parte de um estudo prévio. A amostra inicial era constituída por 90 indivíduos. Desse total, 39% não foram encontrados, 12% não apresentaram interesse em participar, 9% faleceram (um por acidente automobilístico, um por causa desconhecida e seis em decorrência de problemas cardiovasculares) e
4% desenvolveram algum tipo de demência. O restante da amostra, 36% (n = 32) foram os indivíduos reavaliados nesse estudo (num intervalo médio de sete anos). Para uma melhor compreensão do processo de envelhecimento, a análise foi dividida em quatro partes: 1) comparação entre os resultados gerais antes e depois, 2) comparação entre os resultados em diferentes intervalos de reavaliação (seis, sete e oito anos), 3) comparação entre o desempenho geral dos sujeitos com resultados mais altos e dos com resultados mais baixos antes e depois e 4) análise descritiva dos sujeitos que faleceram em conseqüência de problemas cardiovasculares. Os resultados gerais obtidos mostraram que a performance cognitiva comporta-se de forma variada quando analisada através de intervalos longos de tempo (média de sete anos). Apesar de as habilidades cristalizadas declinarem com menor intensidade quando comparadas com as fluidas, elas podem sofrer interferências diretas do declínio das habilidades fluidas e, assim, apresentarem um déficit maior do que o esperado. O efeito de prática, mesmo se comportando de forma heterogênea ao longo do tempo, continua existindo possivelmente até seis anos de intervalo. A repetição de estímulos cognitivos trouxe
benefícios mesmo após longos intervalos de tempo (sete anos), principalmente em sujeitos com pior desempenho inicial. Há um perfil cognitivo rebaixado em sujeitos com problemas cardiovasculares, abrangendo especialmente funções executivas e memória imediata (verbal e visuo-espacial).
The general purpose of this work was to analyze, through a longitudinal study, the changes of some cognitive abilities profile of a metropolitan population of aging people in the city of São Paulo, formed by 32 subjects of a small sample that belonged to a previous study. The initial sample was constituted by 90 individuals. From that amount, 39% were not found, 12% were not interested, 9% died (one in a car accident, one from unknown cause and six from cardiovascular problems) and 4% developed some type of senility. The remaining sample, 36% (n = 32) represents the re-evaluated individuals in this study (throughout a seven years interval). For a better comprehension of the aging process, the analysis was divided in four parts: 1) comparison between the general results before and after, 2) comparison between the results in different re-evaluation intervals (6, 7 and 8 years), 3) comparison between the general performance of the higher and lower results subjects before and after and 4) descriptive analysis of the subjects that died from cardiovascular problems. The general results showed that the cognitive performance behaves in various ways when analyzed throughout prolonged intervals (seven years average). In spite of the fact that the crystallized intelligence is declining less intensely compared to the fluid one, it can suffer from direct interference from the fluid intelligence´s decline and present greater deficiency than expected. The practice effect, even behaving in a heterogeneous way in time continues to exist possibly until a 6 years interval. The cognitive stimuli repetition continued bringing benefits even after prolonged intervals (seven years), mainly in subjects with a worse initial performance. There is a lowered cognitive profile in subjects with cardiovascular problems, mainly in the executive functions and the immediate memory (verbal and visual-spatial).
The general purpose of this work was to analyze, through a longitudinal study, the changes of some cognitive abilities profile of a metropolitan population of aging people in the city of São Paulo, formed by 32 subjects of a small sample that belonged to a previous study. The initial sample was constituted by 90 individuals. From that amount, 39% were not found, 12% were not interested, 9% died (one in a car accident, one from unknown cause and six from cardiovascular problems) and 4% developed some type of senility. The remaining sample, 36% (n = 32) represents the re-evaluated individuals in this study (throughout a seven years interval). For a better comprehension of the aging process, the analysis was divided in four parts: 1) comparison between the general results before and after, 2) comparison between the results in different re-evaluation intervals (6, 7 and 8 years), 3) comparison between the general performance of the higher and lower results subjects before and after and 4) descriptive analysis of the subjects that died from cardiovascular problems. The general results showed that the cognitive performance behaves in various ways when analyzed throughout prolonged intervals (seven years average). In spite of the fact that the crystallized intelligence is declining less intensely compared to the fluid one, it can suffer from direct interference from the fluid intelligence´s decline and present greater deficiency than expected. The practice effect, even behaving in a heterogeneous way in time continues to exist possibly until a 6 years interval. The cognitive stimuli repetition continued bringing benefits even after prolonged intervals (seven years), mainly in subjects with a worse initial performance. There is a lowered cognitive profile in subjects with cardiovascular problems, mainly in the executive functions and the immediate memory (verbal and visual-spatial).
Descrição
Citação
AGUIAR, Ana Cristina Procópio de Oliveira. Follow-up de uma população metropolitana de idosos: perfil neuropsicológico do envelhecimento cognitivo. 2006. 68 f. Dissertação (Mestrado) - Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, 2006.