Estado de saúde e estilos de vida dos idosos portugueses: o que mudou em 7 anos?

Translated title of the contribution: Health status and lifestyles among portuguese elderly people: what has changed in 7 years?

Catarina Barros*, Ana Gomes, Elisabete Pinto

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Downloads

Abstract

This study aims to compare health and lifestyle indicators, similarly assessed, in the last two National Health Surveys (NHS) regarding the elderly population. MethOds: We used data collected in the last two NHS, carried out in 1998/1999 and in 2005/2006. Te variables compared between the two periods were: self-perception of health, prevalence of some chronic diseases (self-reported), health services use, smoking, alcohol intake and number of daily meals. Results: Along these seven years, we observed an increase in the proportion of elderly who rated their health as good or very good (10.6% vs. 13.8%). A slight decrease in the pro- portion of elderly who attended ≥3 medical appointments in the trimester previous to the interview (29.4% vs. 25.2%) and an increase in the proportion of elderly who attended an oral care appointment within the last year (29.7% vs. 34.1%) were noticed. regarding chronic diseases, we observed increments of 10%, 3% and 4% in the hypertension (HT), diabetes (DM) and obesity prevalence, respectively. Concerning lifestyles, it is important to highlight a decrease of 50% in the smokers' proportion and an increase of 25% in the proportion of elderly who reported eating ≥2 times between principal meals. Conclusion: Along these seven years, it was observed an increase in the prevalence of HT, DM and obesity but, simultaneously, an improvement of the self-perception of health status of the Portuguese elderly population, particularly among those who are ≥85 years old, a positive aspect to register as a consequence of the implementation of specific measures in this field.

Translated title of the contributionHealth status and lifestyles among portuguese elderly people: what has changed in 7 years?
Original languagePortuguese
Pages (from-to)242-247
Number of pages6
JournalArquivos de Medicina
Volume27
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2013

Keywords

  • Elderly people
  • Health status
  • Lifestyles
  • National health survey

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Health status and lifestyles among portuguese elderly people: what has changed in 7 years?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this