[The health situation of the non-institutionalized elderly urban population of Castro Uridiales and the differentiating characteristics of those attending the health center frequently]. / Situación sanitaria de la población anciana urbana no institucionalizada de Castro Urdiales, y características diferenciadoras de los que más frecuentan el centro de salud.

OBJECTIVES: Main: to describe the health situation of the urban non-institutionalised population of 75 or over in Castro Urdiales. Secondary. To analyse the differences in the over-user group. DESIGN: Descriptive, crossover. SETTING: Primary Care Health Centre. PATIENTS: People in the urban area aged 75 or over and with the following inclusion criteria: not institutionalised, who had been at least 6 months in the town, and for whom there was data for locating them. Over-users: people in the upper third of attendance (9 or more consultations per year). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A "Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment" was performed, cognitive state (Pfeiffer) and social assessment. The over-user group functioned better, had a better cognitive state and consumed more medication. CONCLUSIONS: The results coincided with other studies in most of the items analysed. It is important to be aware of the worse functional and cognitive condition of the group which attended the Health Centre least. Sub-groups of the elderly still need to be studied.