Avaliação da composição corporal e aptidão física de doentes internados no Serviço de Medicina Interna

Abstract

Exercise and nutrition play an active role in population health. The objective of this internship is to study the importance of Exercise Physiologists in a Hospital context, whether in inpatient or Outpatient Consultation. On the one hand, through the assessment of the state of physical fitness and body composition in order to assess their influence on the state of health, on the other hand, through multidisciplinary work between an Exercise Physiologist and Nutritionist. In the first, an anthropometric and physical fitness assessment was carried out, as well as questionnaires on self-perception of health, physical activity and frailty. One hundred patients admitted to the Internal Medicine service were included, of both sexes, with an average age of 72 years. This population had a high degree of frailty and physical weakness, despite almost half of the sample being physically active. In the second, 2 case studies were carried out, with 2 patients with different comorbidities. In both cases, an anthropometric and physical fitness assessment was carried out. In one case, a quality of life and physical activity questionnaire was also administered. Two assessments were carried out 2 months apart. There were slight differences between the different assessments, which may indicate that the 2-month interval is too short to verify significant differences to assess the effectiveness of this multidisciplinary work. The role of an Exercise Physiologist therefore seems to be important in the hospital context to assess physical weaknesses and intervene early in multidisciplinary contexts with the aim of improving the health of the population.