Avaliação da diferença na força muscular periférica entre admissão e alta em idosos hospitalizados

The measurement of peripheral muscle strength in the hospital environment directs rehabilitation and contributes to predicting mortality in the elderly. Objective: To evaluate the variation of muscle strength during hospitalization in hospitalized elderly. Methods: This is a retrospective longitudinal study with stable elderly admitted at an ICU of a large public hospital in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil. Three measurements of handgrip strength (HGS) were performed, and the highest value was considered for analysis. Other variables collected were cognitive function (MMSE) and Charlson's comorbidity index (CCI). Student T-test was used to test the variation of HGS between admission and discharge. Results: The sample consisted of 80 elderlies with an average age of 68.1 ± 5.8 years, mostly male (77.5%) and with surgical profiles (92.5%). In the comparison between HGS at admission and discharge, no significant differences were found (29.8 ± 7.5 kgf; 30.0 ± 7.8 kgf; p-value= 0.698). However, different forms of variation were observed 36.2% of participants had an increase in HGS (27.8 ± 9.3 kgf to 32.3 ± 9.6 kgf), whereas 38, 7% had a loss of HGS (30.9 ± 6.7 kgf to 26.8 ± 6.9 kgf) between admission and discharge. Conclusion: There are different trajectories in HGS from admission to discharge in hospitalized elderly, and understanding the factors that favor these variations is important for the rehabilitation process.