ABSTRACT
Objective
To evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with cognitive decline in the elderly with low economic status.
Methods
Cross-sectional study sample of 310 elderly residents in the city of Ibicuí/BA. We used the Mini-Mental State Examination for the assessment of global cognitive status. For the evaluation of categorical variables and simultaneous analysis was performed using chi-square test χ2 and multiple logistic regression analysis with exploratory purposes, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed with significance level of p = 0.05, calculating the odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals.
Results
The overall prevalence of cognitive decline was 18.7%. Data analysis revealed that the variables age and education were statistically associated with greater cognitive impairment among the elderly (p ≤ 0.05).
Conclusion
The prevalence of cognitive decline observed was high and was associated with older age and with fewer years of schooling. In this sense, the actions directed to health care for the elderly should strengthen the care prevention and control of cognitive losses, particularly in primary care.
Elderly; cognition; aging
