Associação entre padrões de multimorbidade e estilos de vida dos idosos brasileiros: um estudo de base populacional.

Abstract

Specific chronic noncommunicable diseases are the biggest global health problem, being the main cause of morbidity and mortality. Multimorbidity is often measured by the simultaneity of two or more chronic conditions in the same individual and can result in disabilities, dependence and increased costs in health services, occurring more frequently in elderly people. Multimorbidity follows a pattern of involvement between organic systems and lifestyle can emerge as a determining factor for illness. Objective: To analyze the association between multimorbidity patterns and the lifestyles of elderly Brazilians, according to data from the 2019 National Health Survey. Methods: Cross-sectional study with secondary data from the 2019 National Health Survey, whose sample consisted of 22,728 community-dwelling elderly people selected by simple sampling in all states of Brazil. The multimorbidity patterns (cardiopulmonary, vascular-metabolic and mental-musculoskeletal) were the outcome variables; and the exposure variables were lifestyles, according to the attributes: I) Anthropometric Measurements; II) Diet; III) Alcohol Consumption; VI) Physical Activity; and V) Smoking. All data were obtained through self-report. The analysis was supported by descriptive statistics, prevalence ratio and the chi-square test was used to verify the associations between the variables. Results: Most Brazilian elderly people have a “healthy” lifestyle pattern (68.38%), increasing to 79.64% when added to the “very healthy” class. All multimorbidity patterns adopted in this research were associated with the rural area and white color/race; the cardiopulmonary and mental-musculoskeletal pattern were associated with the age groups of 80 years or older and 60-79 years, respectively; the vascular-metabolic pattern with the urban housing area; and the mental-musculoskeletal pattern was found to be associated with female gender, single marital status and among those with higher years of education. In the association between multimorbidity patterns and lifestyle patterns adjusted for the dichotomous format, it was found that among the elderly exposed to an unhealthy lifestyle, the prevalence of development of the cardiopulmonary pattern is 9% higher. Conclusion: More than half of the elderly Brazilian community population presented a healthy lifestyle pattern. In addition, regarding the association between multimorbidity patterns and lifestyle patterns, the prevalence of the cardiopulmonary pattern is 9% higher among elderly people exposed to an unhealthy lifestyle.