| Summary: | Introduction: ageing brings about physiological and morphological changes that threaten the nutritional status, affecting the functional capacity of the elderly and interfering the adherence to pharmacological therapy.
Objective: to determine the impact of age on nutritional, functional and polypharmaceutical status in the elderly.
Method: observational, analytical and cross-sectional study in old patients hospitalized during the period September 2017 to September 2018, at the Research Center on Longevity, Aging and Health. The sample included 200 patients; using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: the age group between 75 and 80 years predominated (36,84 %). There was a negative relationship between age and BMI (r= -0,2072; p=0,003). Sixty-five percent of the patients were in the mild category regarding Katz's index. According to Lawton's index, 44,5 % of the patients were classified as independent, exhibiting lower mean age, presenting an inverse relationship between score and age (r=-0,477 p=0,005). Forty-three percent (43 %), of the total population studied presented polypharmacy at admission, which increased according to age. Polypharmacy decreased to 15,5 % and at discharge the statistical significant reached (p<0,05) of reduction.
Conclusions: the increase in age conditioned a decrease in the body mass index, decreasing in function; as well as the increase in polypharmacy. Specialized care leads to a decrease in polypharmacy, and therefore a better quality of life.
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