Prevalência de dor e estresse percebido em cuidadores formais de idosos

Abstract

Brazilian popular ageing is growing rapidly due to better life conditions and opportunities that people are having. These epidemiological and demographic changings in great proportions cause concern to the health professionals, because there are not many professionals able to take care of the elderly person in full-time yet. This taking care function performed without capacitation can cause physical overload, as damages and pain, by adopting inadequate and psychic postures when appearing the stress symptoms due to the routine with tasks and demands. The objective of this study was to identify and to describe how the overload in the formal caregiver can cause pain and stress, and, thus, to suggest possible occupational therapeutic interventions that benefit the life quality of these subjects in the professional and personal spheres. It is characterized as an investigation with a quantitative stamp, in an analytical model of the type observational transversal. As the instrument, it was used a semi-structured interview, Visual Analogic Scale (EVA) and Stress Perception Scale-10. The results point out that the caregivers of this search are in the majority female and their main claims are feeling pain in the vertebral column region and stress in moderate levels.