Associação entre autopercepção de saúde e mortalidade por todas as causas em idosos de Alcobaça, BA: Estudo ELSIA

Abstract

The relationship between self-perception of health and mortality in the elderly has been found and described in studies carried out around the world. The objective of the present study is to describe self-perception of health and analyze its relationship with mortality among the elderly in Alcobaça, Bahia, as well as its association with sociodemographic variables and the number of self-reported diseases. This study is part of the Longitudinal Study of Elderly Health in Alcobaça (ELSIA), and the investigation is characterized as a population-based prospective cohort study. In the logistic regression analysis, it was found that the number of morbidities and income in minimum wages remained associated with self-perception of health, with elderly people with five or more morbidities being 3.46 times more likely to report negative self-perception of health, as well as those who live with 0 to 3 minimum wages were 1.61 times more likely to have a poor self-perception. According to the Cox regression, only age, that is, being 80 years of age or older (HR=4.62; CI 2.75-7.75) was consolidated as a predictor variable for death. In this study, among the elderly in Alcobaça, no statistically significant association was found between self-perception of health and mortality. There are factors that lead the elderly to have a poor self-perception of health that can be modified. In this way, these elderly people can live longer and with higher quality, as long as they receive the information and care necessary for healthy aging.