Functional capacity and associated factors among longevous senior individuals living in community: a population study in Northeastern Brazil

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of impaired functional capacity and the associated factors in longevous elderly individuals from a city in the countryside of Northeastern Brazil. This is a cross-sectional, population- and community-based study. The research population consisted of senior citizens aged ≥80 years old, residents of the urban area of Lafaiete Coutinho, Bahia, Brazil. Data were collected in the households through a questionnaire with information on functional, socioeconomic, and demographic aspects and health/behavioral factors. Data analysis was performed using multinomial logistic regression at a significance level of 5%. A total of 94 senior citizens, whose average age was 86.1 years old (±6.39), whereof 59.6% were female, were interviewed. Among the longevous senior individuals, 19.1% were considered independent to instrumental and basic activities of daily living, whereas 56.2% were considered as dependent to instrumental activities of daily living, and 24.7% to both basic and instrumental activities of daily living. There has been an association between impaired functional capacity, both for basic and instrumental activities of daily living, and the variables referring to sex and drug use; another one was between race/color and instrumental activities of daily living dependence. We got to the conclusion that there was high prevalence (80.9%) of longevous senior citizens who depend on instrumental and basic activities of daily living. Also, the impairment of functional capacity on longevous senior citizens was associated with female sex, non-white race/color, and use of one or more drugs.

本研究旨在明确巴西东北部乡村地区某城市长寿老年人的功能能力受损患病率及其相关影响因素。本研究为一项基于人群与社区的横断面研究。研究对象为巴西巴伊亚州拉斐特库蒂尼奥（Lafaiete Coutinho）市区常住的80岁及以上老年人。研究通过入户访谈开展问卷调查，收集涵盖功能状况、社会经济状况、人口统计学特征以及健康/行为相关因素的信息。数据分析采用多项logistic回归，显著性水平设定为5%。最终共完成94名老年人的访谈，研究对象平均年龄为86.1岁（±6.39），其中女性占比59.6%。在受访的长寿老年人中，19.1%能够独立完成工具性日常生活活动（Instrumental Activities of Daily Living）与基础性日常生活活动（Basic Activities of Daily Living），56.2%存在工具性日常生活活动依赖，24.7%同时存在基础性与工具性日常生活活动依赖。研究发现，基础性与工具性日常生活活动的功能能力受损分别与性别、药物使用变量存在统计学关联；种族/肤色与工具性日常生活活动依赖亦存在统计学关联。本研究得出结论：80.9%的长寿老年人存在工具性日常生活活动与基础性日常生活活动依赖，功能依赖比例较高。此外，长寿老年人的功能能力受损与女性性别、非白人种族/肤色以及使用一种及以上药物显著相关。