OBJECTIVE: To identify the demographic profile of the elderly people living in the urban area of Joinville-SC. METHOD: using multistage cluster sampling of Joinville urban sectors, 660 elderly individuals were interviewed in their homes with the use of questionnaires. Chi-square test was used for association tests for categorical variables according to gender. A level of significance of p<0.05 was considered for all analyses. The differences between genders were considered statistically significant when p<0.05. RESULTS: The average age was 69.8 years, and most (57.6%) of the elderly were women. The majority (62.0%) was living with a partner, and 33.0% were widows/ers; the predominant age group was 60-69 years (54.8%); the most highly represented ethnical group was the Caucasian (89.5%); most individuals (84.5%) were born in Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul was the original state of most immigrants (3.9%). As to schooling, 72.9% did not complete elementary school, 9.2% were illiterate, and only 5.3% had gone to high school. Concerning income, 45.6% received up to two Brazilian minimum wages, and 50.3% of the women were financially dependent. In relation to BMI, 32.8% presented mean values above appropriate. CONCLUSION: The demographic profile of this population was similar to other studies with the elderly in the country. Given it is an age group that is growing increasing faster in the country and in the world, having information on their demographic characteristics is necessary to establish public health policies aimed at controlling and promoting this population's health.
Epidemiology; Aging; Elderly; Joinville
