Presença do cão e suas implicações na saúde da pessoa idosa residente na área de abrangência do Centro de Saúde São Gabriel, Regional Nordeste, Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais, 2012

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the interaction between dogs and old people who resides in the Northeast area of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and its association with the self-perception of health and life quality. There were randomly selection of 100 individuals aged 60 and over, which were classified into two groups (50 subjects each), as for the presence of dogs in the property or not. Data were collected through a survey administered by interview, formed by three validated instruments frequently used in the evaluation of old patients (Mini-Mental State Examination, Evaluation of Selfperception Health and Quality of Life Scale-WHOQOL-bref) and a fourth containing questions related to socio-economic-demographic, the profile of the dog, the elderlyand-dog interaction, and the presence of the dog. The data were stored and processed using Epi Info version 6.04. The frequency differences between variables were analyzed by chi-square test. It was observed that most elderly participants of this study were female with a mean age between 69 and 59 years, married and with a basic level of education. There was a predominance of retirees with household income between 1 to 3 brazilian minimum salaries (from BRL677,00 to BRL2031,00). About family composition, the majority lived with their sons.A cognition was preserved for the entire group with a mean score of 24.5 on the MMSE. Most of the old people who had dog in the household did not report illnesses related to the presence of animal. The profile of dogs in the household was characterized as mostly without mongrel, male, small and aged over 5 years. The interaction between the older person and their dog was reported on especially careful activities with the dog, the major one being to feed. The greater meaning and benefit of living with the dog was to have a companion. Most of the seniors are satisfied with their health. In evaluating the quality of life the 4 QOL domains were the dependent variables and it was proposed that variables of presence or absence of the dog at home for correlation. Through the means of the SPSS 12.0 statistics pack, with significance set at p <0.05, there was there was no statistically positive significant association between groups of elderly owners or not of dogs in 4 domains; physical, psychological, social and environment environment The presence ofdogs in the household did not represent implications in the perception of health and quality of life of old people residents at the coverage area, which are the following: Health Center San Gabriel, Northeast Region of Belo Horizonte, besides it do not involve illness or risk of falls in this population