Condições de saúde, capacidade funcional, uso de serviços de saúde e gastos com medicamentos da população idosa brasileira: um estudo descritivo baseado na Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios

Abstract

The objective of this research was to describe health conditions and health services utilization among Brazilian seniors. The study was based on 28,943 adults > 60 years (99.9%) from an overall National Household Survey (PNAD 1998). The results show that prevalence rates for at least one chronic disease (69.0%), hypertension (43.9%), arthritis (37.5%), and inability to feed oneself/bathe/use the toilet (2.0%) are very similar to those observed in other populations. Physician visits and hospitalization patterns are within the variation reported by different countries. The low prevalence rates of older adults who had interrupted activities because of a health problem (13.9%) or had been bedridden (9.5%) in the previous 2 weeks or hospitalized in the previous year (13.6%) show that the vast majority are not subject to these events. Considering that 50% of this population live on less than or equal to one Brazilian monthly minimum wage, expenditures on medications consume approximately one-fourth (23%) of total income for half of the elderly population.

Influência da renda na associação entre disfunção cognitiva e polifarmácia: Projeto Bambuí

“…Income was positively associated with the use of prescribed medications, 15 and the elderly people of lower socioeconomic level presented greater diffi culty in obtaining them, which they ascribed to fi nancial problems. 12 References to diffi culties in funding expenses due to medications among this population were also observed in a study with qualitative methodology. 24 Thus, two questions can be raised: 1) whether, among the elderly people in Bambuí, medical prescriptions should be differentiated not only as a function of doctors' knowledge of patients' cognitive state, as suggested by Hanlon et al 5 (1996), but also as a function of socioeconomic level; and/or 2) whether, under pressure because of adverse economic conditions, poorer elderly people with cognitive impairment might be consuming lower quantities of medications than those that would be necessary for treating their health problems.…”

Indicadores da institucionalização de idosos: estudo de casos e controles

“…This fi nding may be due to different factors: differences in exposure to occupational hazards, as men have traditionally worked in the labor market while women managed the home; the higher consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products among men; 15 and the greater use of health services and general concern for health among women. 12 In addition, there are higher rates of mortality from external causes, such as violence, among men especially as young adults. 4 In our study, the risk of institutionalization increased with increasing age.…”

“…The risk of functional disability doubles with each successive decade of life, 8 with a higher prevalence of chronic diseases and hospital admissions among the oldest adults. 12,23 These factors may increase the likelihood of institutionalization of the elderly. Caregivers were more likely to respond to the survey on the behalf of institutionalized elderly adults, a fi nding that highlights the higher levels of dependence that these adults experience compared to elderly adults living in the community.…”

Correlação entre os testes da caminhada, marcha estacionária e TUG em hipertensas idosas

“…Several recent studies [2][3][4] have focused on evaluating and regaining functional capacity or preventing its decline, particularly in older adults 5,6 . The significant increase in the prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases in older adults 7 , especially systemic hypertension or high blood pressure (HBP) which is closely associated with the decline in functional capacity 8,9 , has created the need to study evaluation methods for ADL performance. These methods allow the detection of functional capacity levels, evolution from one level to another, personalized prescription of exercises and motor development monitoring 10,11 .…”

“…The 6MWT is widely used as a practical and affordable way to evaluate aerobic capacity. It is easily applied, well tolerated, and it reflects ADLs well 5,7,14 . The 2MST evaluates aerobic capacity and also does not need expensive equipment, which allows its use in the community, with the advantage that it can be used in limited amounts of space 13,15 .…”