Self-assessment of health status and associated factors in elderly persons registered with the Family Health Strategy of Campina Grande, Paraíba

Abstract Objective: To determine the association between negative self-assessment of health status and sociodemographic variables and health indicators in elderly persons registered with the Family Health Strategy of Campina Grande, Paraíba. Methodology: A cross-sectional study with home-based primary data collection was carried out among elderly persons of both genders. The variables studied were: self-assessment of health, socioeconomic and demographic factors, number of referred chronic diseases and degree of dependence in basic activities of daily living. Possible factors associated with self-assessment of health were verified through multivariate logistic regression. Results: We evaluated 420 elderly persons (68.1% of whom were women) with an average age of 71.57 years. There was a positive association between negative self-assessment of health status and elderly persons with two or three chronic diseases (OR=2.70; CI95%:1.47-4.96), four or more chronic diseases (OR=4.35; CI95%:1,58-12.01), a mild degree of dependence (OR=2.34; CI95%:1.13-4.87), moderate dependence (OR=2.11; CI95%:1.07-4.17) and those who were married (OR=2.46; CI95%:1.01-6.01). Conclusion: The results show that the negative self-assessment of health status was associated with the number of referred chronic diseases and degree of dependence in basic activities of daily living. There was also a tendency towards association with married elderly persons. The results suggest the need for actions aimed at the prevention and diagnosis of chronic diseases, as well as the promotion and maintenance of functional capacity and disability prevention or treatment.