This cross-sectional study in 2009 focused on the prevalence of underweight and overweight and associated factors in a sample of 621 elderly individuals in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Data were obtained through home interviews on nutritional status and socio-demographic and health conditions. Of the total sample, 53.3% were females. Median BMI was 26.40 kg/m² (range = 15.20-46.82) and was lower for men than for women. Prevalence of overweight was high (45%; 95%CI: 40%-49%), decreased with age, was positively associated with female gender and history of arthritis/arthrosis, and was negatively associated with age 80 years or older and smoking. Prevalence of underweight was high in men (18.2%), increased with age, and was positively associated with worse self-rated health. The findings highlight the importance of health strategies that favor lifestyle changes and healthy eating habits.

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ABSTRACT:Objectives: To assess the prevalence and factors associated with diabetes in the elderly population and verify the correlation between the use of medications for diabetes and information about the disease. Methods: This epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with 621 elderly people aged 60 years or older selected by simple random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was used as a research tool and included questions about socioeconomic conditions, lifestyle, health conditions, and nutritional status. The weight, height, and waist circumference were measured. The dependent variable was the self-reported diabetes. In the association analysis between explanatory variables and self-reported diabetes, the Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was used. In the bivariate analysis, a p value < 0.25 was used to include the variables for the multivariate modeling, and in the final model, the variables with p value < 0.10 association were included. Results: The prevalence of diabetes was 22.4%. The multivariate hierarchical analysis showed the following factors independently and positively associated with diabetes: gender, self-reported health, history of hypertension/dyslipidemia, polypharmacy, and waist circumference. The elderly schooling was negatively associated with diabetes. Conclusion: The results showed the need for implementation of educational public policies to promote behavior changes of the population to prevent and control diabetes and its complications.

A similar risk of death for mobility, IADL and BADL in both genders was found, suggesting that any of these domains can be used to identify risk of all-cause mortality among older adults. The number of activities with limitations in each domain was an important factor.

BackgroundThe rapid population ageing has been accompanied by a growing number of older adults experiencing chronic conditions, especially diabetes and hypertension, which are conditions associated to the decline in physical functioning. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the strength of the association between mobility and two chronic conditions (hypertension and diabetes) in a large representative sample of Brazilian older adults over a ten year period.MethodsThe data came from the Brazilian National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) of 1998, 2003 and 2008. The sample comprised 28,943 participants aged 60 years and older investigated in 1998, 35,042 in 2003 and 41,269 in 2008, totalling 105,254 older adults. The dependent variable was the physical mobility index (PMI) constructed based on the Item Response Theory (IRT) using five physical mobility indicators. The chronic conditions were self-reported and the confounders included: age, sex, schooling, ethnicity, family income, household composition, other co-morbidities and use of health services. The association between physical mobility (three different groups) and chronic conditions (hypertension and diabetes) was performed using multinomial logistic regression.ResultsOver the ten year period the prevalence of hypertension increased from 44 % (1998), 49 % (2003) to 53 % (2008) (p < 0.001). Similar pattern was observed for the prevalence of diabetes: 10 % in 1998, 13 % in 2003 and 16 % in 2008 (p < 0.001). Overall, physical mobility showed a statistical significant association with both chronic diseases studied even after adjusting for potential confounders. The time-disease interaction term was significant (p < 0.05) for the two chronic conditions studied, and the strength of the associations decreased over the first five years, but it was not sustained between 2003 and 2008.ConclusionsDespite the increases observed in the prevalence of the hypertension and diabetes over the ten year period, the decrease in strength of the association with physical mobility during the first period could be explained by improvements in health services and treatment of older adults. Special attention should be given to the treatment and management of diabetes in order to avoid declines in physical mobility levels.