Health status of elderly residents in Beijing city: a survey and analysis based on the Health Criteria for Older Adults in China(2022) / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate and analyze the health status of elderly people from the physical, psychological and social aspects using the Health Criteria for Older Adults in China(2022), and to understand the impact of social demographic characteristics on the overall health status of the elderly.Methods:159 elderly people aged 60 years and over in the Lanyuan community of Malianwa Subdistrict, Haidian District, Beijing were selected by the stratified sampling method, with a mean age of(70.7±7.9)years, including 74 men and 85 women.The physical, psychological, social and overall health status of the elderly were comprehensively evaluated and analyzed from data collected through a self-designed questionnaire with face-to-face interviews at respondents' homes.Results:The percentage of participants in this community who were considered overall healthy was 30.2%(n=48). The proportions of those meeting the criteria for physical, mental and social health were 79.2%(n=126), 90.6%(n=144)and 32.1%(n=51), respectively.For participants of 3 age groups(60-69, n=89; 70-79, n=44; ≥80, n=26), differences in percentages of people who were considered not healthy, largely healthy and healthy, measured using the overall, physical, mental and social health criteria, were statistically significant( χ2=24.683, 57.096, 12.801, 11.802, all P<0.05), and results of the χ2test for trend showed that the frequency distribution of people with overall, physical, mental and social health decreased with age( χ2=16.878, 31.600, 9.626, 9.626, all P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that education level( OR=2.142, 95% CI: 1.053-4.538, P=0.035)was an influencing factor for overall health status of the elderly. Conclusions:The overall health status of community-dwelling elderly people in Beijing is relatively poor and deteriorates with age.Education level is a factor affecting their health status.Health assessment for the elderly should be strongly advocated, and targeted health education should be provided for the elderly in disease prevention and mental health care.