Prevalence of functional incapacity by gender in elderly people in Brazil: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Abstract Considering that functional capacity is an important indicator of health in aging, the present study aimed to describe the prevalence of disability by gender among elderly people in Brazil through a systematic review and meta-analysis of articles about this subject. Articles published up to June 2013 were included, and a search was performed of the MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS, Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct electronic databases. The inclusion of articles in the systematic review was guided by the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) and by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A descriptive analysis of the selected articles was performed and expressed in a forest-plot type graph. Of 3,656 articles initially identified in all the databases, 2,585 duplicates were excluded and 23 articles were deemed eligible for review. Prevalence rates ranged from 12.3% to 94.1% for men and from 14.9% to 84.6% for women. The methods used to assess functional capacity in elderly people in Brazil also differed between the articles. This variation complicates the comparison of results between the articles, demonstrating the need for standardized methods of measuring functional capacity.