Socio-demographic and health conditions of institutionalized elders in cities of the Southeast and Middle West regions of Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Santiago,Lívia Maria
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Luz,Laércio Lima, Silva,João Francisco Santos da, Oliveira,Paulo Henrique de, Carmo,Cleber Nascimento do, Mattos,Inês Echenique
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Geriatrics, Gerontology and Aging (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://ggaging.com/details/369
• topic: health of the elderly, homes for the aged, Brazil.

<p><b>OBJECTIVE:</b> In this descriptive epidemiological study, we sought to trace the profile of socio-demographic and health conditions of elders residing in long-term institutions in cities in the Southeast and Midwest regions of Brazil.<br> <b>METHODS:</b> We used descriptive statistical methods to characterize and compare the profile of the elders in each city and the statistical significance of the observed differences was tested by the &#967;² test, considering p <u>&lt;</u> 0.05.<br> <b>RESULTS:</b> In total, 760 individuals were interviewed, of whom more than half were men (52.6%) and almost 40.0% were 80 years or older. The majority presented dependence in instrumental activities of daily living (81.2%) and cognitive impairment (73.3%). The major part of socio-demographic and health characteristics of these individuals differed among the suited cities.<br> <b>CONCLUSION:</b> This heterogeneity may be related to the different socio-cultural contexts of each city that, in a sense, influence the health conditions and the reasons leading to the institutionalization of elders in Brazil.</p>