Prevalência de doenças associadas ao envelhecimento na população idosa do município de Cuité - PB.

Abstract

The elderly population has been acquiring ever greater proportions and the aging process is marked by several biopsychosocial changes which cause diseases whose etiology is related to advancing age. Considering the need to know the diseases linked to this process, after all it is clear how much the aging still remains as one of the most complex and critical points for science, this study aimed to identify the prevalence of diseases associated with aging in the elderly population of Cuité - PB. This is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach and the sample consisted of 131 elderly. The data were collected via a questionnaire regarding socioeconomic items, risk factors and a list of diseases associated with aging. With the results being analyzed based on descriptive and inferential statistics, the chi-square test was used to check the association between categorical variables. The results demonstrate higher prevalence of females, aged between 60-69 years, a low or no education, married and with a family income 1-2 minimum wages. Regarding exposure to risk factors, the majority does not smoke, does not consume alcohol, is sedentary, eutrophic with low stress level. As for the most prevalent diseases, stand out-Arterial Hypertension (65.60%), osteoporosis (37.40%), osteoarthritis (34.40%), constipation (22.90%); hemorrhoidal disease (21.40%) and diabetes mellitus (19.80%). In the association between behavioral risk factors and diseases, statistical significance was found between stress and hypertension (p = 0.015), BMI and CI (p-value = 0.000), smoking and diabetes (p = 0.059), physical activity and osteoporosis (p-value = 0.009) and between BMI and cholelithiasis (p-value = 0.031). Thus, the necessity of implementing a healthcare model to ensure comprehensive care is explained with emphasis on the search for the elimination of risk factors for detected diseases and promoting health throughout the life course as a means of minimizing the risk of illness when in old age.