Aim: to evaluate the correlation between the risk of violence and the frailty in the elderly attended at a Emergency Care Unit. Method: this is a cross-sectional study, involving 146 elderly persons attending a Care Unit in Campina Grande - PB. Two instruments will be used: the Edmonton Scale and the Elderly Violence Screening Scale. Descriptive and correlation analysis will be performed using the Spearman or Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Expected results: it is expected that the results contribute to elucidating factors that determine the vulnerability of the occurrence of violence against the frail elderly.
Descriptors: Frail Elderly; Violence; Aged.
Aging is understood as a result of the progressive reduction of the functional reserve of the individual, and it is a physiological and natural process. These changes, together with attitudes of prejudice, disrespect and social inequality against the elderly and present in society, can contribute to the occurrence of serious acts of violence against the elderly (Violência Contra a Pessoa Idosa – VCPI)(1).
Considering that the VCPI phenomenon causes strong impacts on the health of the described population, in 2007 the VCPI notebook was published. This book describes that the elderly in the process of becoming frail, over 75 years old, mostly women, with a high degree of dependence on their daily activities, communication difficulties and suffering from depression, are more vulnerable to the occurrence of violence(2).
Despite the existence of the relationship between the installation of fragility in the elderly and the occurrence of VCPI, studies that used scales and instruments validated to find statistical significance in the correlation between both phenomena are not identify in the literature. Thus, the relevance of carrying out investigations is considered for seeking concrete answers to this possible relation.
General: To evaluate the correlation between the risk of violence and the frailty in the elderly attended at an Emergency Care Unit (ECU).
Specifics: Describing the sociodemographic characteristics of the sample participants; identifying the degree of frailty of the elderly according to the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS); verifying the existence of risk of violence in the elderly, according to the cross-culturally adapted version of the Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test (H-S/EAST).
This is a cross-sectional study to be carried out in an ECU in the city of Campina Grande - PB, which envisages the articulation between the basic, medium and high complexity care network. The population of this study corresponds to the average of the total number of visits to the elderly in the ECU, in the first three months of 2017, equivalent to 5,163. The probabilistic sample, of the simple random type, by definition of finite population, will be 146 elderly people. It will include in the sample people with age equal to or greater than 60 years, with capacity to respond to the proposed instruments and that they have entered for attendance in the ECU. The sample will exclude the elderly classified as blue (non-urgent).
For characterization of the sample a form containing sociodemographic variables will be applied and for the investigation of the correlation between the risk of the elderly suffering domestic violence and the installation of fragility will be applied two scales already validated and adapted transculturally: EFS and H-S/EAST. All the instruments will be applied to the elderly population, by means of signing the Free and Informed Consent Form, containing all information pertinent to the research described. Data will be processed and analyzed through SPSS version 20.0, using descriptive statistics with absolute and relative frequencies. The chi-square test (X2) and the Fisher's exact test will be used to cross the variables with the sociodemographic data; for the evaluation of the correlation between the risk of violence and the degree of frailty of the elderly person, the Spearman's or Pearson's Correlation Coefficient will be used, depending on the normality presented by the statistical data, and the p-value adopted for significance of the study is <0.05.
The present study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte on the opinion number 2,156,735.
The results of this study are expected to show a correlation between the variables of the risk of violence and the frailty in the elderly, as well as to identify the degree of installation of the fragility syndrome and the vulnerability to the risk of domestic violence. It will provide the academy and nursing professionals with statistically significant support for future studies on the subject; in addition, the findings may support strategies for prevention and early identification regarding the occurrence of both disorders.
All authors participated in the phases of this publication in one or more of the following steps, in according to the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, 2013): (a) substantial involvement in the planning or preparation of the manuscript or in the collection, analysis or interpretation of data; (b) preparation of the manuscript or conducting critical revision of intellectual content; (c) approval of the version submitted of this manuscript. All authors declare for the appropriate purposes that the responsibilities related to all aspects of the manuscript submitted to OBJN are yours. They ensure that issues related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the article were properly investigated and resolved. Therefore, they exempt the OBJN of any participation whatsoever in any imbroglios concerning the content under consideration. All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest of financial or personal nature concerning this manuscript which may influence the writing and/or interpretation of the findings. This statement has been digitally signed by all authors as recommended by the ICMJE, whose model is available in http://www.objnursing.uff.br/normas/DUDE_eng_13-06-2013.pdf
Received: 11/09/2017 Revised: 09/19/2018 Approved: 09/19/2018