Assessment of vision and hearing health status of adults and the elderly in primary care

Abstract

 The objective of this study was to assess vision and hearing health status of adults and the elderly who participated of health groups in Health Regional Administration –2 (ARS - 2) comprising the regions  Butantã, Lapa, Pinheiros in the city of São Paulo. Integrated activities of the Elderly, Ocular, Hearing and Disable Health Programs were developed with general information about promotion and protection of vision, hearing and health communication. As methods to perform this study, a form was answered, questioning about general health, and vision and hearing impairments. They were submitted to visual acuity measurement (V.A.), meatoscopy examination and were referred to ophthalmic and otorrinolaringology examination. Results showed that a total of 214 people were evaluated, aged 50 or older, belonging to the health groups previously described. Of these, 75,2% related that vision had little or no impairing impact in their daily activities. The AV of the best eye showed that 77,1% had vision 1,0 to 0,7 and 1,9% had vision < 0,3. Among the persons with AV £ 0,5 in one of the eyes, 27,0% were sent to an ophthalmic exam. Among people who were submitted to hearing health tests, Within the hearing health, 52,8% referred not to have difficulty in listening to the TV, 31,8% complained of buzzing noise and 19,6% complained of discomfort with noise; 42,5% of these persons were forwarded to otorrinolaringological consultation. As conclusion, it was possible to see that the population under study, who participated in organized groups, would have greater access to health equipments, to information about self care and prevention of diseases, and, consequently, showed less visual and hearing problems. The importance of preventive work, as well as activities of promotion became evident, contributing to an increase in quality of life, preserving their functional capacities and making social interaction easier.