Unmet need for assistance with activities of daily life among older adults in Brazil

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To estimate the proportion of unmet need for personal assistance for basic and instrumental activities of daily life and to evaluate socioeconomic inequalities related to the unmet need among community-dwelling Brazilian older adults. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study with data from the last National Health Survey in Brazil. Unmet need was considered as the presence of at least one unmet need for basic or instrumental activities of daily life among individuals reporting the need for assistance. Logistic regression models were used to assess the correlates and probabilities of unmet need. RESULTS The proportion of unmet need was 18% and 7.1% for basic and instrumental activities of daily life, respectively. Unmet need was significantly related to living arrangements and socioeconomic status. Individuals in the first quintile of wealth status had about 50% higher probability of having an unmet need. A family member was the most prevalent type of caregiver. CONCLUSIONS Long-term care policy is needed to reduce the proportion of unmet need, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Future studies should address the availability, training, and remuneration of caregivers, as those are an indispensable labor force in an aging society.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in elderly people from Vitória-ES, Brazil / Prevalência de sobrepeso e obesidade em idosos da cidade de Vitória-ES, Brasil

The scope of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity and its association with socio-economic status in a sample of non-institutionalized elderly people from Vitória-ES, Brazil. This was a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 882 elderly people aged 60 and over. Obesity and overweight were assessed using the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). All subjects answered a personal and socio-demographic questionnaire in relation to age, gender, marital status, physical activity, number of children, chronic diseases and smoking. Associations between categorical variables were tested using chi-square analysis with a 5 percent significance level. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was high (41.8 percent and 23.4 percent, respectively) and 50.7 percent of the elderly had a substantially increased waist circumference. About 4.3 percent of the individuals had diabetes, 50.4 percent had hypertension and 14.9 percent were found to have both diseases. It was observed that both the BMI and WC were significant associated (p<0.05) with sex, marital status, the presence of diseases and with cigarette smoking.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a prevalência de sobrepeso e de obesidade associados a fatores socioeconômicos, em uma amostra de idosos não institucionalizados de Vitória-ES, Brasil. Foi realizado um estudo transversal com uma amostra de 882 idosos com 60 anos ou mais. Estes parâmetros foram avaliados por meio do índice de massa corporal (IMC) e da circunferência da cintura (CC). Todos os participantes responderam a um questionário de dados pessoais e sociodemográficos em relação à idade, sexo, grau de instrução, estado civil, atividade física, número de filhos, doenças crônicas e tabagismo. Associações entre as variáveis categóricas foram testadas utilizando o teste qui-quadrado com um nível de significância 5 por cento. Observou-se que prevalência de sobrepeso e obesidade de acordo com o IMC foi alta (41,8 por cento e 23,4 por cento, respectivamente) e 50,7 por cento dos idosos apresentaram um substancial aumento da circunferência abdominal. Verificou-se que 4,3 por cento dos indivíduos eram diabéticos, 50,4 por cento hipertensos e 14,9 por cento apresentaram ambas as doenças. Observou-se que tanto o IMC como a CC foram significativamente associados (p <0,05) com o sexo, estado civil, presença de doenças e tabagismo.