Healthy aging profile in octogenarians in Brazil

this population-based epidemiological study was conducted using household interviews of 335 octogenarians in a Brazilian municipality. The decision-tree model was used to assess the healthy aging profile in relation to the socioeconomic characteristics evaluated at baseline. All of the tests used a p-value < 0.05.

Results:

the majority of the 335 participating older adults were women (62.1%), were aged between 80 and 84 years (50.4%), were widowed (53.4%), were illiterate (59.1%), had a monthly income of less than one minimum wage (59.1%), were retired (85.7%), lived with their spouse (63.8%), did not have a caregiver (60.3%), had two or more children (82.7%), and had two or more grandchildren (78.8%). The results indicate three age groups with a healthier aging profile: older adults aged 80 to 84 years (55.6%), older adults aged 85 years and older who are married (64.9%), and older adults aged 85 and older who do not have a partner or a caregiver (54.2%).

Conclusion:

the healthy aging profile of octogenarians can be explained by age group, marital status, and the presence of a caregiver.

Descriptors:
Aging; Aged, 80 and Over; Health Profile, Epidemiologic Factors; Epidemiology

Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto / Universidade de São Paulo Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-902 Ribeirão Preto SP Brazil, Tel.: +55 (16) 3315-3451 / 3315-4407 - Ribeirão Preto - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rlae@eerp.usp.br

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[1] Corresponding Author: Lúcia Hisako Takase Gonçalves Universidade Federal do Pará Faculdade de Enfermagem Rua Augusto Corrêa, 1 Guamá CEP: 66.075-110, Belém, PA, Brasil E-mail: lhtakase@gmail.com

Variables		Total (N = 335)		Men (N = 127)		Women (N = 208)		p-value*
Variables		N	%	N	%	N	%
Age								0.988
	80-84 years	169	50.4	64	50.4	105	50.5
	≥ 85 years	166	49.6	63	49.6	103	49.5
Self-reported ethnicity								0.035
	Caucasian	139	41.5	61	48.0	78	37.5
	Black/Mixed	44	13.1	20	15.7	26	12.5
	East Asian/Indigenous	149	44.5	44	34.6	103	49.5
	Did not respond	3	0.9	02	1.6	1	0.5
Marital status								<0.001
	Married	120	35.8	81	63.8	39	18.8
	Separated	13	3.9	7	5.5	6	2.9
	Widowed	179	53.4	36	28.3	143	68.8
	Single	23	6.9	3	2.4	20	9.6
Level of education								0.989
	Literate	137	40.9	52	49.9	85	49.9
	Illiterate	198	59.1	75	59.1	123	59.1
Monthly income								0.671
	No income	32	9.6	10	7.9	22	10.6
	≤ 1 minimum wage^†	198	59.1	75	59.1	123	59.1
	> 1 minimum wage^†	105	31.3	42	33.1	63	30.3
Retired								<0.001
	Yes	287	85.7	122	96.1	165	79.3
	No	48	14.3	5	3.9	43	20.7
Living arrangement								<0.001
	Living with spouse	81	63.8	37	17.8	118	35.2
	Mixed arrangement	30	23.6	126	60.6	156	46.6
	Living alone	12	9.4	35	16.8	47	14.0
	Did not respond	4	3.1	10	4.8	14	4.2
Number of children								0.367
	0	36	10.7	10	7.9	26	12.5
	1	13	3.9	6	4.7	7	3.4
	≥ 2	277	82.7	107	84.3	170	81.7
	Did not respond	9	2.7	4	3.1	5	2.4
Number of grandchildren								0.787
	0	44	13.1	15	11.8	29	13.9
	1	9	2.7	3	2.4	6	2.9
	≥ 2	264	78.8	103	81.1	161	77.4
	Did not respond	18	5.4	6	4.7	12	5.8
Caregiver								0.431
	Yes	133	39.7	47	37.0	86	41.3
	No	202	60.3	80	63.0	122	58.7

Variables		Total (N = 335)		Men (N = 127)		Women (N = 208)		p-value*
Variables		N	%	N	%	N	%
Self-perceived health								0.798
	Very poor	18	5.4	5	3.9	13	630
	Poor	37	11.0	14	11.0	23	11.1
	Fair	122	36.4	45	35.4	77	37.0
	Good	142	42.4	58	45.7	84	40.4
	Very good	16	4.8	5	3.9	11	5.3
Cognitive impairment								0.311
	Yes	91	27.2	30	23.6	61	29.3
	No	244	72.8	97	76.4	147	70.7
Limitations in ADLs ††								0.063
	Yes	82	24.5	24	18.9	58	27.9
	No	253	75.5	103	81.1	150	72.1
Limitations in IADLs‡								0.426
	Yes	186	55.5	67	52.8	119	57.2
	No	149	44.5	60	47.2	89	42.8
Could walk three blocks without assistance								0.621
	Yes	142	42.4	56	44.1	86	41.3
	No	193.0	57.6	71	55.9	122	58.7
Frequency of alcohol intake								0.007
	Never	165	49.2	60	47.2	105	50.5
	Less than one day per week	150	44.8	53	41.7	97	46.2
	One day per week	6	1.8	4	3.1	02	1.0
	Two to three days per week	6	1.8	4	3.1	02	1.0
	Four to six days per week	2	0.6	0	0	2	1.0
	Every day	6	1.8	6	4.7	0	0
Smoking status								<0.001
	Never smoked	183	56.3	56	44.8	127	63.5
	Smoked but quit	90	27.7	52	41.6	38	19.0
	Smoked occasionally (less than one cigarette per day)	29	8.9	10	8.0	19	9.5
	Current smoker (at least one cigarette per day)	23	7.1	7	5.6	16	8.0
Presence of chronic or acute diseases								0.225
	Yes	103	30.7	34	26.8	69	33.2
	No	232	69.3	93	73.2	139	66.8
Number of medications taken								0.135
	0	123	36.7	54	42.5	69	33.2
	1-3	120	35.8	46	36.2	74	35.6
	≥ 4	86	25.7	26	20.5	60	28.8
	Did not respond	6	1.8	1	0.8	5	2.4

Variables		Healthy aging		Unhealthy aging		p-value*
Variables		N	%	N	%
Age (N = 335)						0.444
	80-84 years	94	52.5	75	48.1
	≥ 85 years	85	47.5	81	51.9
Gender (N = 335)
	Men	75	41.9	52	33.3	0.115
	Women	104	58.1	104	66.7
Marital status (N = 335)
	Married	76	42.5	44	28.2	0.015
	Separated	8	4.5	5	3.2
	Widowed	81	45.3	98	62.8
	Single	14	7.8	9	5.8
Self-reported ethnicity (N = 332)
	Caucasian	76	42.7	63	40.9	0.944
	Black/mixed	23	12.9	21	13.6
	East Asian/Indigenous	79	44.4	70	45.5
Level of education (N = 335)
	Literate	103	57.5	95	60.9	0.578
	Illiterate	76	42.5	61	39.1
Monthly income (N = 335)
	No income	15	8.4	17	10.9	0.668
	≤ 1 minimum wage^†	109	60.9	89	57.1
	> 1 minimum wage^†	55	30.7	50	32.1
Retired (n = 335)
	Yes	157	87.7	130	83.3	0.276
	No	22	12.3	26	16.7
Caregiver (N = 335)
	Yes	60	33.5	73	46.8	0.014
	No	119	66.5	83	53.2
Living arrangement (N = 321)
	Living with spouse	73	42.4	45	30.2	0.076
	Mixed arrangement	76	44.2	80	53.7
	Living alone	23	13.4	24	16.1
Number of children (N = 326)
	0	24	13.7	12	7.9	0.251
	1	7	4.0	6	4.0
	≥ 2	144	82.3	133	88.1
Number of grandchildren (N = 317)
	0	28	16.4	16	11.0	0.260
	1	6	3.5	3	2.1
	≥ 2	137	80.1	127	87.0