Identificación y caracterización del adulto mayor saludable / A novel method for targeting and characterizing healthy older people

ABSTRACT

Background: There is no established definition of healthy aging in clinical practice, although it is a World Health Organization goal. Aim: To develop a clinical protocol to identify healthy older people living in the community and study their clinical, laboratory and functional characteristics. Material and Methods: Healthy people aged 60 years or older, were invited to participate in the study, by newspapers and radio, if they selfperceived as healthy, lived in the community, were functionally independent and had low disease burden. Potential participants were initially screened by telephone, and those who met the inclusion criteria were included. They had a comprehensive geriatric assessment which included clinical, anthropometric, laboratory and functional assessments. Results: Of 384 people who answered the call, 83 subjects aged 60 to 98 years (57 percent women) met the inclusion criteria of healthy older people. Seventy eight percent did not consume any medication, 100 percent were able to perform physical activities that required at least three metabolic equivalents (Mets). Basic laboratory showed that approximately 90 percent of subjects had normal values, using standard benchmarks established for an adult population. Conclusions: The protocol used in this work was able to identify healthy older people with low disease burden and good functionality. It also validated history and comprehensive geriatric assessment as reliable instruments to identify these subjects.