Fatores relacionados à qualidade de vida de idosos de uma comunidade quilombola do estado da Paraíba

Abstract

Introduction: Human aging entails biological, psychological, functional and social losses that make the elderly vulnerable to diseases and health problems and directly influence their quality of life. Objective: To evaluate factors related to the quality of life of elderly people in a quilombola community of Paraíba. Material and methods: This is a cross-sectional, analytical study, with primary data collection, carried out from September to December 2019 with 55 elderly people aged 60 years or more, of both sexes, residing in the Quilombola community of Caiana dos Crioulos, Alagoa Grande/PB, Brazil and who were registered in E-SUS as residents of that community. The dependent variable of this study is the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and the independent variables are the socioeconomic-demographic profile (age, socioeconomic level, years of education, per capita income and number of residents in the household), the situation of health (number of falls, symptoms indicative of depression, number of chronic non-communicable diseases and metabolic risk), nutritional status (body mass index, calf circumference and arm fat area) and muscle strength (sitting-rising test). Pearson’s chi square test or Fisher’s exact test, Spearman's correlation and simple and multiple linear regression (CI95%; p<0.05) were performed to verify the existence of a relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. This research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the State University of Paraíba and the elderly participants signed the Free and Informed Consent Term. Results: 55 elderly were evaluated (66.6% women), with a mean age of 71.3 years, among which 42.2% had poor HRQOL in the physical component and 44.4% in the mental component. The multiple model for HRQOL in the physical component showed that symptoms indicative of depression, the number of CNCDs and the sitting-rising test together explained 37% (R²=0.379; p<0.05) of poor HRQOL. For HRQOL in the mental component there was no significant relationship with any of the variables in the final model. Conclusion: With this study it was possible to observe that the symptoms indicative of depression, the number of CNCDs and the sitting-rising test are related to poor HRQOL in this population in the physical component. Thus, it is suggested to encourage habits that enable the reduction and control of physical and psychological diseases, as well as the maintenance of muscle strength.