Functional assessment of older adults with Parkinson's disease

Introduction: paralysis agitans or Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive and disabling neurodegenerative disease that is physically, cognitively, and socially disabling. Objective: to evaluate the functional status of older adults with Parkinson's disease. Method: a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with a universe of 32 patients with Parkinson's disease. The Barthel Index and the Hoehn and Yahr scale were applied using the percentage method. Results: male sex and the age group 60 to 69 years predominated. The most frequent risk factors were associated diseases and white skin, the most common disabling symptoms were tremor and hypokinesia, stage 3 of the disease predominated being more representative the male sex and according to Barthel index moderate disability predominates. Conclusions: Parkinson's disease increases with age affecting mainly the male sex. The most frequent risk factors were associated chronic diseases and white skin color. Clinically it was characterized by hypokinesia, tremor and rigidity. Clinically, the patients presented different stages of the disease, predominantly stage 3. The disease affects the functionality of the patients, with moderate disability prevailing.