Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in the Monitoring of Functional Improvement

Overview

14.44% of the Spanish population is over 70 years old and Aging as a normal process is characterized by gradual modifications in the physiological functions of the different systems, so that as age progresses, deterioration can lead to imbalances and alterations in health that cause diseases or traumatic processes. Within these processes, vestibular loss occurs normally in the face of healthy aging and, encompassed within this progressive dysfunction, various symptoms such as dizziness, imbalances, facial and limb weakness, confusion or headache may occur. Functional status is the best indicator of the overall health status of the elderly person. Identifying these indicators as soon as possible is the best way to prevent functional decline and promote active aging and life expectancy free of disability. For this reason, there are strategies that are currently a priority in health systems. The special COVID circumstances eliminate the possibility of group work and invite the realization at home or individually of workshops or collective exercises In the field of physiotherapy, vestibular exercises have shown efficacy for improving balance and reducing the risk of falls in cognitively intact people without vestibular impairment, being a specific approach to vestibular rehabilitation for the reduction of dizziness and imbalances , as it facilitates the compensation of the Central Nervous System. physiotherapy intervention has been shown in various studies to be effective in improving balance and reducing the risk of falls in older people. Also considering that the control of body balance in the elderly depends not only on the vestibular system, but also on the correlations between all the other systems, it seems interesting to add exercises with multiple components, since it would add effects of improvement in functional independence of people greater for daily activities and control of body balance. Therapeutic physical exercise is an effective non-pharmacological strategy to improve the functional condition of the elderly and although it is known that there are various exercise modalities that improve physical function and quality of life, The Clinical Practice Guidelines emphasize the importance of multicomponent / multimodal exercise for this population group

Therefore, and given the information in both directions, we consider that it is necessary to determine the efficacy in the evidence of both actions (multicomponent exercise and vestibular exercises) to improve functional capacity and thus prevent falls, conducting a randomized clinical trial that compares the effectiveness of both interventions. Given the special circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, an online or virtual follow-up is necessary to achieve the exercises, building a resource website and helping virtual access and monitoring to carry out the personalized exercise. Thus, this set of interventions can be carried out by making an initial diagnosis of pre-frailty or frailty using instruments and simple validated tests. This is indicated or recommended in the guidelines from national and international societies. In this sense, we can avail ourselves of a comprehensive assessment of the VALINTAN tool (computerized comprehensive assessment of the elderly and used in primary care), whose axis is function, focuses on predefined diagnoses associated with effective documented interventions or with the fragility or functional loss. Currently the tool is open and freely accessible