OBJECTIVES: To describe the sociodemographic and social network of the elderly residents in the community Ermelino Matarazzo, through epidemiological investigation. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study of 382 elderly residents home base in Ermelino Matarazzo, aged over 60 years. The sample was randomly selected by cluster sampling in two stages. Was randomly selected from 35 census tracts in the district Ermelino Matarazzo, in the east of the city of São Paulo, and in 2007 held the recruitment of older adults living in households in these sectors. We applied the sociodemographic questionnaire and a graphic instrument, the Minimum Map Relations Aging (MMRI). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A descriptive analysis of the data suggests that the population was characterized by older people with low income and education, most married or widowed, retired and pensioner. As for social networking, family members are the main support of respondents. The size of the network, most participants showed a small social network. Regarding marital status, it was found that elderly widows had a social network larger than that of single individuals. The variables of age and family income were positively correlated with the size of the social network. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights findings that come into agreement with the literature, as more gifts to members of the social network of the elderly, family, gender, female, as the network size, small. It is noteworthy that the study provides data representative of the elderly population because it is a study of epidemiological methodology.
Elderly; Social Networking; Size Perception; Network Size
