Page 173 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2024. Zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih / Health of Working-Age and Older Adults. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press

Significance of the assessment of geriatric gerastenia

1
2
Snježana Brući , Mara Županić , Mark Tomaj, master of Physioterapy 3
1 Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation Naftalan, Ivanić Grad, Croatia
2 University of Applied Health Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
3 University of Applied Health Sciences, Ivanić Grad, Croatia
Introduction and purpose: For health and social policymakers, population ageing be-
comes a priority issue. Those questions concern, first, how to meet the needs of the
elderly in meeting personal primary needs and their own well-being and secondly, how
to actively contribute to the family or community in old age. Due to demographic age-
ing important public health priorities such as: development of services, research into
specific problems and difficulties of the elderly, evaluation of the needs of the elderly
for the purpose of improving the prevention, recognition and treatment thereof. One
of complex clinical conditions associated with aging is fragility (frailty) or gerastenia.
Gerastenia is characterised by a decline in physiological ability in several organic sys-
tems, resulting in increased susceptibility to stressors. Fragility can be partly prevent-
ed and treated by exercise, adequate diet and reduction of polypragmasia.
Content presentation: Epidemiological studies show a correlation between gerastenia
and harmful health outcomes. The existing healthcare response to gerastenia is mainly
based on secondary care and responds to acute health problems such as falls, delirium
or immobility, therefore a more proactive and integrated response to both the per-
son and the community is needed. Gerastenia is a state of decline in intrinsic ability be- posterji | poster presentations
fore disability occurs during life. Gerastenia can be divided into three stages depending
on weight. The first is called the early phase (pre-frail) where symptoms directly indi-
cate the limitations of the body, although an early response would ensure a success-
ful response to this challenge. The second midlle phase (frailty) is caracterised by car-
acteristic symptoms indicating limitations in individual functional ability and worsening
overall quality of life. A late phase (frailty complications) is diagnosed when individu-
al functional self-esteem is significantly reduced, while concomitant behavioural para-
digm can potentially lead to death. Since gerastenia is a state of rapid biological aging in
which the body gradually loses the ability to adapt to physical, mental and social stress,
characterized by general weakness, fatigue and low physical activity, impaired endur-
ance, poor balance, weight loss or loss of appetite, impaired ability to solve problems
and memory, it is of utmost importance to recognise these biological changes in time.
It is precisely the implementation and application of gerastenia recognition tools that
would significantly contribute to the choice of different options for adjusted treatment
and risk determination, time savings and improving the quality of life of older people as
well as avoiding negative health outcomes. Because individualized interventions pre-
serve the independence, physical function and cognition of the individual. It is also im-
portant to note that the identification of older people who have not developed ger-
astenia provides the possibility of planning interventions to prevent or delay gerstenia
at a later age. In practical terms, it is necessary to implement a system of evaluation
and evaluation of gerastenia in elderly people primarily in primary health care offices.
The presentation of the paper will present basic terms related to gerstenia, tools for
measuring gerastenia and interpretation of tools into health and social acitivities with
the aim of adding value in the evaluation of comprehensive care of older population.
Conclusions: A comprehensive geriatric interdisciplinary evaluation offers better prog-
nosis and possibilities for tailored treatment and risk determination. It is imperative
that effective tools be introduced into clinical practice starting with the evaluation,
identification of cases and timely treatment of this important geriatric syndrome.
Keywords: Gerastenia, elderly people, assessment

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