Home physiotherapy applied to the elderly

Abstract This work aims to assess the prevalence of physiotherapy types in a group of at homecare patients in the State of Rio de Janeiro, from 1999 to 2002, and their answer to the treatment. Regarding the patient, the predominance of age groups; the types of diseases and records on time of lesion. As for physiotherapeutical homecare, the study considered the type; objective and improvement level obtained with the accomplished treatment. The importance of this work lays in the increase of the homecare as a phenomenon observed in several countries, including Brazil, due to the increase of the worldwide elderly population and the epidemic profile of the chronic diseases, which have as consequence the increase of unproductiveness and government costs. The epidemiology method was used in the descriptive prevalence. Results evinced that home physiotherapy was predominant among the elderly , prevailing the motor type, with 56% of findings, and that the improvement was of 35% of factors related to the situation of bed confinemen. It is recommended that physiotherapeutical homecare be prioritized, aiming at better outcomes in the therapeutic performance.